UNIVERSITY  OF  CALirOFJxlA,  SAN  UltUW 
LA  JOLLA,  CAUFORNIA 


yNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  SAN  DIEGO 


3  1822  00641  1490 


d.00 


A  History  of  Events  in 
Egypt  from  1798  to  19 14 


P 


ii 


"  With  antecedents, 
With  Egypt  .  .  . 

With  the  fading  kingdoms  and  kings, 
With  countless  years  drawing  themselves  onward 
And  arriving  at  these  years — 
O,  but  it  is  not  the  years  :  it  is  I,  it  is  You  .  .  . 
We  stand  amid  time  beginningless  and  endless, 
We  stand  amid  evil  and  good  .  .  . 

I  know  that  the  past  was  great  and  the  future  will  be  great, 
And  that  where  I  am  or  you  are  this  present  day 
There  is  the  centre  of  all  days,  all  races, 
And  there  is  the  meaning  to  us  of  all  that  has  ever  come 
Of  races  and  days,  or  ever  will  come." 

— Walt  Whitman. 


THE    SULTAN    OF    EGYPT. 
H.H.   Prince  Hussein  Pasha   Ka.wel. 


A  History  of  Events  in 

Egypt  from  1798  to  1914 


BY 

ARTHUR    E.    P.    BROME    WEIGALL 

LATE   INSPECTOR-GENERAL   OF   ANTIQUITIES  TO  THE   EGYPTIAN   GOVERNMENT 

AUTHOR   OF 

'THE  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF  CLEOPATRA,   QUEEN   OF   EGYPT,'    'THE 

LIFE   AND   TIMES  OF    AKHNATON,    PHARAOH   OF   EGYPT,' 

'THE  TREASURY  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT,'  ETC.,  ETC. 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S    SONS 

597    FIFTH    AVENUE 

1915 


ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 


f\Mmi 


fbX 


TO 

dMY   mOTHER 


PKEFAOE. 


My  fellow-workers  may  ask  why  an  Egyptologist, 
deserting  for  a  while  his  temples  and  his  mummies, 
should  meddle  with  modern  affairs  and  politics. 
I  must,  therefore,  give  my  reasons  for  having 
turned  my  attention  to  these  nineteenth-  and 
twentieth-century  studies  in  Egyptian  history. 

It  has  lately  been  definitely  proved  that  the 
ancient  and  modern  Egyptians  are  one  and  the 
same  people.  Anthropologically  there  is  no  real 
difference  between  them,  and  it  would  seem  that 
neither  the  Arab  nor  any  other  invasion  materially 
affected  the  purity  of  their  blood.  They  have 
suffered  a  certain  nervous  deterioration,  and  have 
perhaps  lost  some  of  their  initiative  and  strength 
of  purpose,  just  as  any  individual  in  his  lifetime 
may,  after  a  long  illness,  find  himself  not  so 
energetic  as  once  he  was ;  but  physically  and 
mentally  the  modern  Egyptians  are  not  different 
from  their  ancestors  of  the  days  of  the  Pharaohs. 

This  being  so,  I  do  not  see  how  an  Egyptologist 


viii  Preface 

can  hope  to  understand  the  ancient  inhabitants 
of  the  Nile  Valley  unless  he  make  some  study 
of  their  modern  descendants.  The  antiquarian 
will  reply  that  modern  politics  are  of  too  transi- 
tory a  nature  to  interest  him ;  but  in  answer,  I 
would  point  out  to  him  that  all  historical  episodes 
are  transitory,  and  yet  in  bulk  they  serve  to 
define  the  only  permanent  quality  by  which  a 
people  may  be  judged — namely,  the  national  char- 
acter. The  antiquarian  must  remember  that  in 
his  archaeological  work  he  is  dealing  with  a  people 
who  are  still  alive,  still  contributing  their  strength 
to  the  labours  of  the  world.  The  affairs  of  bygone 
times  must  be  interpreted  in  the  light  of  recent 
events,  just  as  modern  conditions  can  be  rightly 
appreciated  only  by  those  who  know  what  has 
ofone  before.  There  must  be  a  constant  inter- 
change  of  suggestion  between  the  past  and  the 
present,  and  both  in  the  study  of  the  distant 
ages  and  in  that  of  modern  days,  we  must  not 
lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  the  long  road  of  Time 
stretches  in  one  unbroken  line  from  the  far  past 
into  the  far  future,  and  that  the  traveller  upon 
that  road  is  indeed  a  lost  wanderer  if  he  sees 
not  from  whence  it  comes  and  into  what  direc- 
tion it  seems  to  go. 

Egypt  has  recently  passed  under  the  Protec- 
tion   of  the    British    people,   and   it    is    therefore 


Preface  ix 

incumbent  upon  those  who  take  their  national 
responsibilities  with  seriousness  to  understand 
how  it  comes  about  that  we  are  in  any  way 
concerned  with  the  people  of  the  Nile.  Lord 
Cromer  once  remarked  to  me  that  no  statesman 
could  hope  to  understand  the  Egyptian  Question 
unless  he  had  made  some  study  of  ancient  history  ; 
and  with  equal  reason  it  may  be  said  that  no 
antiquarian  can  expect  to  interpret  rightly  the 
events  of  Egypt's  mighty  past  unless  he  has 
been  an  interested  spectator  of  Egyptian  actions 
in  modern  times. 

Such  is  my  excuse  for  spending  many  of  my 
spare  hours  in  the  preparation  of  the  following 
chapters,  which,  as  far  as  I  am  concerned,  have 
served  to  enlighten  me  very  considerably  upon 
certain  remote  episodes,  and  have  produced  in 
my  mind  an  unbounded  confidence  in  the  ability 
of  the  Egyptian  nation  to  re-establish  its  great- 
ness under  our  very  eyes,  and,  by  England's 
high-minded  aid,  to  become,  as  the  new  Sultan 
has  said,  "  a  centre  of  intensive  cultivation,  both 
moral  and  material." 

Some  of  the  following  chapters  have  been 
published  as  papers  in  '  The  Fortnightly  Review,' 
and  others  have  appeared  in  '  Blackwood's  Maga- 
zine.' I  have  to  thank  the  editors  for  allowing 
them  to  be  reproduced  here. 


CONTENTS. 


P  A  E  T    I. 

MODERN  EGYPT  BEFORE  THE  BRITISH 
OCCUPATION. 

CHAP.  PAGR 

I.    NAPOLEON    BONAPARTE  ....  3 

II.    MOHAMMED    ALI  .  .  .  .  .44 

III.  ISMAIL    PASHA  .....  79 

IV.  AHMED   PASHA    ARABl  .  .  .  .121 


PART     II. 
EGYPT  DURING  THE  BRITISH  OCCUPATION. 

V.    LORD    CROMER  .  .  .  .  167 

VI.    SIR    ELDON    GORST         .....  206 

VIL    LORD    KITCHENER  .....  237 

VIII.    THE    PROTECTORATE     .....  267 

INDEX  .......  309 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


THE     SULTAN      OF     EGYPT,      H.H.      PRINCE     HUSSEIN  PASHA 

KAMEL  .....  Frontispiece 

NAPOLEON    BONAPARTE         .  .  .  -  .18 

By  Baron  Gros,  Versailles. 


MOHAMMED    ALI       .... 

ISMAIL    PASHA  .... 

AHMED    PASHA    ARaBI 

LORD    CROMER  .... 

Photo  by  J.  Beresford. 

SIR   ELDON    GORST. 

Photo  by  Elliot  &  Pry. 

LORD   KITCHENER    OF    KHARTOUM    (aS   COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF 
OF    THE    EGYPTIAN    ARMY)  .... 

THE   EX-KHEDIVE,    ABBAS   PASHA   HILMI 


62 

82 
146 
174 

210 


258 
280 


PART  I. 

MODEEN  EGYPT  BEFORE  THE 
BRITISH   OCCUPATION 


"Then  will  this  consecrated  land,  the  abode  of  shrines  and 
temples,  be  densely  filled  with  graves  and  corpses.  0  Egypt, 
Egypt !  of  thy  worships  only  rumours  will  be  preserved,  and 
even  these  will  seem  incredible  to  thy  coming  generations ;  only 
words  will  be  preserved  on  the  stones  to  tell  of  thy  pious  deeds, 
and  Egypt  will  be  inhabited  by  the  Scythian  or  Indian  or  other 
such  from  the  neighbouring  barbarian  land." — Attributed  to 
Appuleius. 


CHAPTER  I. 


NAPOLEON    BONAPARTE. 


In  1515  the  Turks  declared  war  upon  Egypt, 
which  at  that  time  was  governed  by  independent 
Mameluke  Sultans,  and  on  January  20,  1517,  Cairo 
was  captured.  The  Sultan  Selim  I.  of  Turkey 
was  declared  Sultan  of  Egypt,  and  when  he  re- 
turned to  his  own  country  he  left  a  viceroy  who 
should  rule  in  his  name,  with  the  advice  of  twenty- 
four  Mameluke  chieftains. 

In  1750  a  certain  Mameluke,  named  Ali  Bey, 
rose  into  prominence,  and  when,  in  1769,  the  Porte 
ordered  him  to  send  12,000  Egyptians  to  serve 
against  the  Russians,  he  felt  himself  strong  enough 
to  revolt.  Shortly  afterwards,  therefore,  he  pro- 
claimed himself  Sultan  of  Egypt  and  Khakan  of 
the  Two  Seas,  and  came  to  an  understanding  with 
Russia.  In  1773,  however,  he  was  defeated,  and 
Egypt  passed  once  more  under  the  rule  of  the 
Porte.  A  period  of  anarchy  ensued,  and  at  length, 
in  1782,  a  Turkish  force  marched  into  Egypt  to 
restore  order.     The  government  then  passed  into 


4     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

the  hands  of  the  two  Mameluke  chieftains,  Murad 
and  Ibrahim,  who  ruled  as  the  vassals  of  the 
Porte ;  and  it  was  during  their  tenure  of  office 
that  Napoleon  Bonaparte  conceived  the  idea  of 
invading  Egypt. 

The  extraordinary  personality  of  Bonaparte,  and 
the  bold  manner  in  which  he  created  and  domin- 
ated the  European  situation  during  the  end  of 
the  eighteenth  and  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
centuries,  often  lead  us  to  forget  that  he,  like 
most  other  commanders,  made  his  blunders  and 
suifered  his  defeats.  The  available  forces  of 
France  were  not  always  able  to  put  into  execution 
the  grandiose  and  sometimes  fantastic  schemes  of 
his  fertile  mind,  and  Napoleon's  failing  throughout 
his  career  was  his  inability  to  curb  his  ambitions. 
The  splendid  romantic  dreams  of  conquest  which 
were  evolved  in  his  brain  led  him  to  attempt  more 
than  his  armies  could  accomplish,  and  on  three  or 
four  occasions  he  embarked  upon  enterprises  which 
ended  in  disaster.  Yet  so  overjoyed  Js  mankind 
at  any  display  of  confident  optimism,  so  tolerant  is 
the  world  towards  any  miscalculations  in  a  scheme 
which  is  in  any  way  heroic,  that  it  is  our  custom 
to  judge  an  enterprise  not  so  much  by  its  degree 
of  success  as  by  the  boldness  of  its  conception. 
The  drama  of  Moscow  is  laid  on  so  grand  a  scale 
that  we  are  pleased  to  regard  the  retreat  of  the 
French  army  more  as  a  triumph  than  as  a  catas- 
trophe.    The  abandonment  of  the  project  for  the 


Napoleon  Bonaparte  5 

invasion  of  England  is  forgotten  in  the  press  of 
the  crowding  events  of  that  period.  The  disasters 
which  led  to  the  Emperor's  exile  on  Elba  are 
wiped  out  in  the  memory  of  the  stirring  "  hundred 
days."  And,  in  like  manner,  Bonaparte's  Egyptian 
campaign,  which  was  a  total  failure,  is  dressed  by 
the  historian  in  the  trappings  of  the  projected 
Oriental  conquests  or  in  the  tinsel  of  the  Battle  of 
the  Pyramids ;  and  the  prime  fact  of  the  break- 
down of  the  entire  scheme  is  steadily  ignored. 
There  is  something  magnificent  in  the  picture  of 
Bonaparte  pacing  the  broad  avenues  of  the  park  of 
Passeriano  in  the  glow  of  the  sunset,  demonstrating 
to  his  generals  his  schemes  for  the  conquest  of 
Egypt  and  of  Asia,  "  frequently  betraying  by  his 
exclamations  the  gigantic  thoughts  of  his  unlimited 
ambition,"  as  Lacroix  tells  us.  "  Was  it  not,  then, 
a  noble  project,"  asks  that  historian,  "  to  reopen 
the  roadway  of  the  ancient  world,  to  explore  a 
country  so  rich  in  great  memories,  to  go  to  mark 
his  place  amongst  the  most  illustrious  conquerors, 
and  to  plant  the  tricoloured  flag  upon  the  ruins  of 
Thebes  ? "  Indeed,  it  was  a  fine,  if  a  somewhat 
sensational,  dream ;  and  the  mouth  of  the  critic 
being  stopped  by  the  largeness  of  its  conception, 
he  is  wont  to  refrain  from  the  cold  comment  that 
a  very  temporary  and  quite  useless  subjection  of 
little  Malta  and  unwarlike  Egypt  was  all  that 
came  of  Napoleon's  romantic  project.  Here,  as  in 
the  Peninsula  and  in  Belgium,  he  collided  with 


6     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

that  so  often  under  -  estimated  factor  in  inter- 
national affairs — the  persistence  of  England,  which 
in  some  irresistible  manner  slowly  sweeps  all 
before  it  by  virtue  of  a  combination  of  pluck  and 
optimism.  His  wild  plans  for  making  himself 
Sultan  of  the  Orient,  which  developed  out  of  the 
original  scheme,  were  brought  to  a  sudden  termin- 
ation by  the  Battle  of  the  Nile,  in  which  a  small 
fleet  of  British  ships  destroyed  his  armada,  and  by 
the  Defence  of  Acre,  where  a  handful  of  British 
sailors  turned  back  his  dispirited  invading  army ; 
and,  when  he  had  slipped  back  to  France  in  dis- 
gust, a  British  expeditionary  force  caused  that 
same  army  to  capitulate  at  Alexandria.  In  Egypt 
and  Syria  the  great  duel  between  England  and 
the  much-dreaded  "  Boney  "  opened  ;  and  the  first 
bout,  like  the  last,  ended  in  a  hard-earned  victory 
for  our  arms.  The  events  deserve  a  far  greater 
prominence  than  they  generally  receive,  not  only 
because  they  reveal  the  amazing  fighting  power  of 
England,  but  also  because  they  show  Bonaparte 
in  a  role  which,  at  first  romantic,  can  only  be 
described  in  its  later  phases  as  that  of  a  lunatic. 

The  importance  to  any  European  power  of 
possessing  Egypt  had  been  realised  for  many 
years.  In  1672  Leibnitz  had  explained  to  Louis 
XIV.  that  he  might  best  hope  to  subjugate  the 
Dutch,  not  by  the  invasion  of  Holland,  but  by  an 
attack  on  Egypt.  "  There  you  will  find,"  said  he, 
"  the  great  Indian  commercial  route,  you  will  take 


Napoleon  Bonaparte  7 

away  the  commerce  from  Holland,  and  you  will 
assure  the  eternal  domination  of  France  in  the 
Levant."  His  words,  however,  were  not  heeded, 
and,  though  the  project  was  proposed  by  the  Due 
de  Choiseul  to  Louis  XV.  and  Louis  XVL,  nothing 
came  of  it.  In  1781  the  Comte  de  Saint-Priest, 
the  French  ambassador  at  Constantinople,  urged 
his  government  to  consider  the  scheme.  "  We 
must  hasten  to  occupy  Egypt,"  he  wrote.  "  The 
conquest  of  the  country  is  easy.  It  is  defended 
only  by  5000  or  6000  Mamelukes,  who  have  never 
been  under  fire,  and  who  do  not  possess  a  single 
cannon."  This  was  very  true.  The  Mameluke 
chieftains  who  had  ruled  the  country  since  its 
conquest  by  Turkey  in  1517,  under  the  Sultan 
Selim  I.,  were  of  foreign  extraction,  and  no  affec- 
tion was  displayed  towards  them  by  the  Egyptians 
whom  they  tyrannised.  Nor  were  the  Turks, 
whose  Sultan  was  the  nominal  sovereign  of  Egypt, 
satisfied  with  the  arrogant  and  independent  be- 
haviour of  these  chieftains.  A  few  years  later,  at 
the  time  of  the  contemplated  French  invasion,  the 
Nile  valley  was  ruled  jointly  by  two  Mamelukes, 
Murad  Bey  and  Ibrahim  Bey,  and  Napoleon's 
agents  had  told  him  of  the  cruelties  practised  by 
these  two  men  upon  the  long-suffering  Egyptians, 
and  of  the  annoyance  of  the  Sultan  at  their  con- 
duct. In  August  1797,  therefore,  Bonaparte  wrote 
to  the  Directoire  telling  them  that  the  time  was 
ripe  for  an  Oriental  campaign ;  but  the  discussion 


ProDe^t 


8     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

of  the  subject  was  interrupted  by  the  attempted 
invasion  of  England,  and  it  was  not  until  the 
abandonment  of  that  rash  project  that  the  Egyp- 
tian campaign  was  again  considered.  In  March 
1798  the  troops  which  had  been  collected  along 
the  north  coast  of  France  were  marched  over  to 
the  south  coast,  and  Varmee  d'Angleterre  became 
Varmee  d' Orient. 

The  ostensible  reason,  for  the  invasion  of  Egypt 
was  provided  by  a  communication  received  from 
the  French  Consul  in  Egypt,  M.  Magallon,  who 
pointed  out  that  French  commerce  was  suffering 
greatly  owing  to  the  precarious  situation  of  the 
French  merchants  resident  in  that  country,  who 
were  always  liable  to  unjust  and  tyrannical  treat- 
ment at  the  hands  of  the  Mamelukes.  Bonaparte, 
therefore,  caused  it  to  be  understood  by  those  who 
were  admitted  into  the  secret,  that  he  was  about 
to  restore  order  and  security  in  Egypt  by  over- 
throwing the  Mamelukes  and  by  upholding  the 
authority  of  the  Sultan.  This  was,  however,  but 
one  of  several  objects  which  he  had  in  view. 
Egypt  and  Asia  suggested  all  manner  of  possi- 
bilities to  his  creative  brain.  The  East  had  always 
appealed  to  him,  possibly  owing  to  an  Oriental 
strain  in  his  blood.  As  early  as  August  1795  he 
had  seriously  thought  of  going  to  Turkey  to  re- 
organise the  Sultan's  artillery,  but  now  this  far 
greater  opportunity  had  presented  itself.  He  saw 
himself  setting   out    from   the  abundant  Nile  to 


Napoleon  Bonaparte  9 

conquer  Asia  and  to  bring  India  under  his  domin- 
ation. He  regarded  Egypt  as  the  natural  gateway 
to  the  East,  through  which  his  armies  should 
stream  out  into  the  unlimited  plains  of  Asia,  and 
thence  over  the  mountains  to  the  sacred  rivers  of 
India.  The  Venetian  Sanuto  had  spoken  of  the 
effect  on  India  which  must  follow  from  the  con- 
quest of  the  Nile  valley  ;  and  the  Comte  Daru  had 
declared  that  the  possession  of  Egypt  was  to  be 
preferred  to  that  of  all  the  provinces  between  the 
Indus  and  the  Ganges,  so  essential  was  it  to  the 
conquest  of  the  far  countries  beyond.  The  English 
were  already  making  themselves  masters  of  India, 
while  their  trade  with  the  East  was  very  consider- 
able ;  and  thus  the  French  were  assured  that  the 
capture  of  Egypt  might  lead  on  to  the  destruction 
of  British  prestige  in  Asia. 

"  There  were,"  says  Bonaparte  in  his  Memoirs, 
"  three  objects  in  the  expedition  to  Egypt.  Firstly, 
to  establish  a  French  colony  on  the  Nile  which 
would  prosper  without  slaves,  and  serve  France 
instead  of  the  Republic  of  St  Domingo  and  of  all 
the  sugar  islands.  Secondly,  to  open  a  market  for 
our  manufactures  in  Africa,  Arabia,  and  Syria, 
and  to  supply  our  commerce  with  all  the  produc- 
tions of  those  vast  countries.  Thirdly,  setting  out 
from  Egypt,  as  from  a  place  of  arms,  to  lead  an 
army  of  60,000  men  to  the  Indies  to  excite  the 
Mahrattas  and  oppressed  people  of  these  extensive 
regions  to  insurrection.     60,000  men,  half  European 


lo     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

and  half  recruits  from  the  burning  cUmates  of  the 
equator  and  the  tropics,  carried  by  10,000  horses 
and  50,000  camels,  having  with  them  provisions 
for  sixty  days,  water  for  five  days,  and  a  train  of 
artillery  of  150  pieces,  with  double  supplies  of 
ammunition,  would  have  reached  the  Indus  in  four 
months.  Since  the  invention  of  shipping  the  ocean 
has  ceased  to  be  an  obstacle,  and  the  desert  is  no 
longer  an  impediment  to  an  army  possessed  of 
camels  and  dromedaries  in  abundance." 

This  all  sounds  very  well,  but  it  is  in  actual  fact 
sheer  nonsense.  It  would  have  been  quite  im- 
possible to  collect  50,000  camels,  even  supposing 
that  the  Arabs  would  have  attempted  the  task 
to  the  best  of  their  ability,  which  is  a  highly  im- 
probable supposition.  The  watering  of  this  vast 
caravan  at  the  shallow  wells  in  the  desert,  and 
the  feeding  of  the  camels,  would  have  been  im- 
practicable ;  and  the  carrying  of  sixty  days'  rations 
and  five  days'  water  per  man  would  have  wanted 
the  assistance  of  sotne  very  black  magic. 

Bonaparte  further  conceived  the  idea  of  cutting 
a  canal  between  the  Red  Sea  and  the  Mediter- 
ranean, alonof  the  route  of  the  later  Suez  Canal, 
and  of  opening  this  new  passage  to  none  but 
French  shipping.  The  ancient  road  to  India, 
travelled  by  Alexander  the  Great,  and  the  mari- 
time highway  down  the  Red  Sea,  would  thus  be 
patrolled  by  the  men  and  the  ships  of  France  ; 
and  he  might  hope  to  found  an  Oriental  Empire 


Napoleon  Bonaparte  ii 

of  vast  extent.  For  this  purpose  he  had  already 
sent  his  agents  posting  away  over  the  hills  to 
spread  discontent  amongst  the  peoples  of  India, 
in  order  that  they  might  welcome  the  French 
army,  when  it  should  come,  as  their  deliverer 
from  oppression ;  for  such  preparatory  methods 
had  already  been  tried  with  conspicuous  success 
in  Switzerland,  Venice,  Italy,  Ireland,  and  other 
countries.  He  had,  moreover,  entered  into  nego- 
tiations with  the  famous  Tippoo  Sahib,  "  the  tiger 
of  Mysore,"  who  was  then  struggling  against  the 
English  advance  in  India.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  at  this  time  Bonaparte  was  honestly  impelled 
by  his  desire  for  the  glory  of  France  and  for  the 
destruction  of  her  enemies  ;  but  as  the  scheme 
shaped  itself  in  his  mind  patriotic  sentiments  gave 
way  to  personal  ambitions,  and  he  came  to  regard 
the  projected  march  into  Asia  not  so  much  as  a 
French  campaign  as  the  fulfilment  of  his  own 
destiny.  The  expedition  for  the  destruction  of 
British  commerce  was  changed  in  his  mind  to  an 
armed  establishment  of  himself  upon  that  far- 
distant  throne  for  which  he  believed  that  Provi- 
dence had  ordained  him. 

As  though  consciously  setting  out  to  found  an 
Empire,  Bonaparte  decided  to  take  with  the  ex- 
pedition a  large  staff  of  artists  and  savants — 
painters,  poets,  musicians,  architects,  engineers, 
mathematicians,  astronomers,  archaeologists,  his- 
torians, botanists,  entomologists,  zoologists,  geol- 


12     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

ogists,  and  others — who  should  study  the  countries 
visited,  and  thus  demonstrate  to  the  world  that 
the  Corsican  was  the  pioneer  of  an  advanced  and 
noble  civilisation.  The  work  accomplished  by 
these  scientists  still  stands  as  a  record  of  the 
utmost  importance.  It  served  as  the  foundation 
of  the  science  of  Egyptology,  and  to  this  day  the 
archaeologist  is  able  to  regard  the  monumental 
'  Description  de  1' Egypte '  as  a  standard  work. 
Bonaparte  provided  his  expedition  with  a  fine 
collection  of  mathematical  and  scientific  instru- 
ments, and  with  a  good  library  of  books  of 
reference  ;  while,  for  the  purpose  of  issuing  pro- 
clamations and  general  orders,  he  took  with  him 
printers  and  a  printing-press  stocked  with  both 
Latin  and  Arabic  type. 

On  April  12,  1798,  when  all  was  in  readiness, 
the  army,  the  fleet,  and  the  transports  being 
collected  at  Toulon,  Bonaparte  received  in  Paris 
his  orders  from  the  Directoire,  stating  that  "  he 
will  chase  the  English  from  all  their  Oriental 
possessions  which  he  is  able  to  reach,  and  notably 
he  will  destroy  all  their  stations  on  the  Bed  Sea. 
He  will  cut  through  the  Isthmus  of  Suez,  and  he 
will  take  the  necessary  measures  to  assure  the 
free  and  exclusive  possession  of  the  Bed  Sea  to 
the  French  Bepublic."  Shortly  afterwards  he  set 
out  for  Toulon,  and  on  May  10,  just  after  his 
arrival,  he  issued  a  bombastic  proclamation  to 
the  troops,  telling  them    that    though   they  had 


Napoleon  Bonaparte  13 

fought  their  way  over  mountains  and  plains,  the 
sea  yet  remained  to  be  conquered.  "  Soldiers  ! " 
wrote  he,  "  Europe  has  its  eyes  on  you,"  and  much 
else  he  penned  of  a  similar  nature  which,  owing 
to  the  disparity  between  the  emotional  training 
of  the  French  and  English  nations,  it  were  better 
here  to  leave  unrecorded. 

On  May  19  the  fleet  set  sail.  Its  destination 
was  an  absolute  secret  from  all  save  the  chief 
officers  The  British  Government  knew  nothing, 
and  the  rumours  that  an  Oriental  campaign  was 
pending  were  discredited  as  being  fantastic  and 
improbable.  Bad  weather,  and  this  lack  of  in- 
formation as  to  the  direction  in  which  the  French 
proposed  to  move,  combined  to  divert  the  atten- 
tion of  our  English  squadron ;  and  though  it  was 
known  that  Nelson  was  cruising  on  these  seas, 
the  chances  were  small  that  the  two  fleets  would 
meet,  while  in  the  event  of  such  an  occurrence 
the  French  men-o'-war,  commanded  by  Admiral 
Brueys,  were  considered  strong  enough  to  hold 
their  own  and  to  defend  the  300  transports  in 
their  charge.  On  June  10  the  fleet  arrived  at 
Malta,  which,  after  a  brief  struggle,  capitulated 
to  the  invaders,  the  Knights  of  St  John  of  Jeru- 
salem who  held  it  being  in  no  mood  to  fight.  On 
June  19,  a  month  after  setting  sail  from  Toulon, 
the  great  armada  put  out  from  Malta,  steering 
for  Crete ;  but  on  reaching  this  island  Bonaparte 
received  news  that   Nelson  was   in   pursuit,   and 


14     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

therefore  gave  orders  to  the  Admiral  to  proceed 
at  once  to  Alexandria. 

Nelson  did  not  know  whither  Bonaparte  was 
bound  ;  for  Spain  and  Ireland,  Greece  and  Syria, 
were  equally  probable  goals  of  his  ambition.  He 
therefore  had  to  inquire  of  passing  vessels  as  to 
whether  they  had  seen  the  French  fleet.  On 
reaching  Naples,  on  June  19,  he  was  told  that 
the  enemy  had  gone  to  Malta  ;  but  while  following 
them  thither  he  bespoke  a  passing  vessel,  which 
informed  him  that  the  French  had  departed  east- 
wards. Nelson,  at  once  guessing  the  truth,  wrote 
to  his  Government  saying,  "  They  are  going  on 
their  scheme  of  possessing  Alexandria  and  getting 
troops  to  India."  Immediately  he  set  sail  in  pur- 
suit, and  therewith  began  one  of  the  finest  sea- 
hunts  in  history.  "  I  will  fight  them,"  wrote 
Nelson,  "  the  moment  I  can  reach  their  fleet,  be 
it  at  anchor  or  under  sail."  The  keen  excitement 
of  the  British  sailors  at  having  a  complete  French 
army  as  their  quarry  inspired  them  to  the  sup- 
remest  eflbrts,  and  the  vessels  were  kept  at  top- 
speed  day  and  night.  Nelson  had,  however,  lost 
some  of  his  frigates  which  had  been  disabled  in  a 
storm  ofl*  Gibraltar  ;  and  owing  to  his  lack  of  these 
"scouts"  he  passed  the  French  fleet  as  it  was 
sheltering  under  Crete,  and  arrived  before  them 
at  Alexandria. 

The  town  was  at  that  time  a  small  seaport, 
with  a  total  population  of  not  more   than   8000 


Napoleon  Bonaparte  15 

souls.  The  European  colony  was  neither  large 
nor  prosperous,  and  had  suffered  many  indignities 
at  the  hands  of  the  native  authorities.  The  gov- 
ernor of  the  town  was  an  Egyptian  who  regarded 
the  nations  of  Europe  as  the  natural  servants  of 
the  Orient.  Like  his  ancestors  of  Pharaonic  days, 
he  considered  only  the  Egyptians  to  be  "  men," 
and  foreigners  to  be  some  quaint  species  of  animal ; 
and  when  Nelson's  ships  arrived  and  a  deputation 
was  sent  ashore  to  ask  for  news  of  the  French, 
the  governor  treated  them  with  lofty  scorn,  telling 
them  to  be  pleased  to  go  away  as  quickly  as 
possible,  since  Egypt  really  had  no  wish  to  know 
anything  about  either  the  French  or  the  English. 
Nelson,  seeing  that  the  enemy  had  evidently  not 
yet  reached  the  country,  set  sail  for  Crete  with 
black  murder  in  his  heart  at  this  new  disappoint- 
ment. As  so  often  happens  in  summer,  however, 
a  dense  haze  lay  over  the  water,  and  during  one 
of  the  following  nights  the  two  fleets  passed  one 
another  unseen.  When  Nelson  arrived  at  Syracuse, 
after  a  fruitless  search,  he  declared  that  his  heart 
nearly  broke.  He  had  chased  the  French  for  600 
leagues,  had  been  within  fifty  miles  of  them,  and 
yet  had  missed  them. 

After  leaving  Crete  Bonaparte  issued  a  procla- 
mation to  the  troops,  informing  them  of  their 
destination,  which  until  now  had  not  leaked  out. 
"  Soldiers ! "  he  wrote,  "  you  go  to  undertake  a 
conquest  of  which  the  effects  upon  the  civilisation 


1 6     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

and  the  commerce  of  the  world  are  incalculable. 
You  will  strike  at  England  the  most  certain  and 
the  most  acute  blow  while  waiting  to  give  her 
the  death  -  stroke.  .  .  .  The  Mamelukes  who 
favour  exclusively  English  commerce  .  .  .  some 
days  after  our  arrival  will  exist  no  more.  The 
peoples  with  whom  we  are  going  to  live  are 
Mohammedans ;  their  main  article  of  faith  is 
this  :  '  There  is  no  God  but  God,  and  Mohammed 
is  His  prophet.'  .  .  .  Have  for  the  ceremonies 
prescribed  by  the  Koran  the  same  tolerance  that 
you  have  had  for  convents,  for  synagogues,  for 
the  religion  of  Moses,  and  for  that  of  Jesus 
Christ." 

On  July  1  the  fleet  arrived  before  Alexandria, 
and  the  governor,  startled  by  the  number  of  ships, 
sent  messengers  to  Cairo  saying  that  French 
vessels  "without  beginning  or  end"  were  outside 
the  harbour.  A  council  was  at  once  called  in  the 
metropolis  to  decide  upon  a  course  of  action  ;  and 
one  deputy,  voicing  the  wishes  of  the  mob,  pro- 
posed that,  as  a  first  step,  the  Europeans  there 
resident  should  be  massacred.  The  more  temperate 
judgment  of  the  leading  Mamelukes,  and  of  the 
Turkish  representative,  Bekir  Pasha,  however, 
caused  this  irresponsible  suggestion  to  be  aban- 
doned. Egyptians  are  by  nature  kindly  and 
humane.  On  many  occasions,  both  in  Pharaonic 
days  and  in  recent  times,  they  have  shown 
marked  aversion  to  bloodshed  ;    and  it  is  a  fact, 


Napoleon  Bonaparte  17 

not  always  recognised,  that  throughout  their 
history  they  are  very  decidedly  conspicuous  for 
their  gentleness  and  forbearance.  Now,  at  this 
council  meeting,  not  only  was  the  thought  of 
massacre  put  aside,  but  measures  were  actually 
taken  for  the  safety  of  all  Europeans,  and  Ibrahim 
Bey  went  so  far  as  to  place  one  of  his  palaces, 
situated  in  the  fashionable  quarter  at  the  south 
side  of  the  Pool  of  Elephants,^  at  the  disposal 
of  the  European  ladies,  who  were  invited  to  take 
up  their  residence  there  under  the  protection 
of  his  soldiers. 

Meanwhile,  Bonaparte  received  news  that 
Nelson  w^as  somewhere  in  the  neighbourhood,  and 
the  consequent  hurried  landing  of  the  army  was 
hardly  distinguishable  from  a  headlong  flight  to 
safety.  He  had  managed,  after  some  difficulties, 
to  get  into  communication  with  the  French  Consul, 
Magallon,  and  from  him  he  had  learnt  that  the 
defences  of  the  town  were  insignificant.  The 
disembarkation  beeran  soon  after  the  sun  had 
set,  but,  as  is  usual  in  July,  the  sea  was  rough 
and  the  breakers  could  be  heard  thundering  upon 
the  rocky  coast  ahead.  The  point  at  which  the 
landing  was  to  be  effected  was  some  distance  from 
the  town ;  and  under  the  warm  brilliance  of  the 
summer  moon  neither  the  rolling  waters  nor  the 
desolate  shore  offered  encouragement  to  the  troops. 
They  were  unfeignedly  agitated  as  to  the  approach 

1  Now  the  Esbekieh  Gardens. 
B 

RHIilA  mU  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 


1 8     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

of  Nelson,  whose  ships  were  expected  to  appear 
out  of  the  hazy  distance  at  any  moment ;  and 
they  knew  not  what  vaUant  armies  awaited  them 
on  land.  In  the  rough  sea  some  of  the  over- 
crowded boats  struck  the  rocks  and  sank,  carrying 
many  heavy-armed  soldiers  to  their  deaths.  "  My 
fortune  has  forsaken  me,"  said  Bonaparte  gloomily, 
as  he  descended  into  the  boat  which  was  to  take 
him  ashore. 

Some  Bedouin,  seeing  the  troops  massed  upon 
the  beach,  rushed  into  the  town  to  inform  the 
governor.  He  at  once  sprang  on  to  his  horse, 
and,  at  the  head  of  some  twenty  men,  galloped 
towards  the  invaders.  He  took  the  advance- 
guard  completely  by  surprise,  charged  down  upon 
them,  whisked  off  the  head  of  their  captain  with 
his  curved  sword,  and  galloped  back  to  Alexandria 
waving  his  ghastly  trophy,  leaving  the  French 
soldiers  with  mouths  open  and  knees  knocking 
toDfether.  About  500  Bedouin  horsemen  then 
attacked  them,  inflicting  some  losses ;  but  with 
the  coming  of  day  the  order  was  given  to  advance 
on  the  town,  and  the  troops  soon  steadied  them- 
selves. A  short  and  sharp  battle  ensued.  General 
Menou,  with  seven  wounds,  was  the  first  over  the 
walls  ;  General  Kleber  was  seriously  wounded  as 
he  led  his  men  ;  and  Bonaparte  was  grazed  by  a 
bullet  which  came  near  to  terminating  his  career. 
Street  fighting  continued  till  noon,  by  which  time 
most  of  the  town  was  in  the  possession  of  the 


NAPOLEON    BONAPARTE. 


\By  Baron  Gros,  Versailles. 


Napoleon  Bonaparte  19 

French  ;  and,  after  some  negotiations,  the  governor 
decided  to  capitulate.  The  French  casualties  were 
40  killed  and  100  wounded.  The  former  had  the 
honour  of  being  interred,  at  the  theatrical  Bona- 
parte's suggestion,  beneath  the  famous  granite 
column  known  as  Pompey's  Pillar,  which  stands 
on  the  site  of  the  ancient  Serapeum,  and  their 
names  were  inscribed  upon  the  sides  of  this 
monument. 

On  July  2,  Bonaparte  issued  a  proclamation  to 
the  people  of  Egypt,  printed  in  Arabic  characters 
by  his  own  press.  This  is  the  first  of  a  series 
of  most  extraordinary  documents  addressed  to 
the  Egyptian  people  by  the  audacious  Little 
Corporal.  Its  insincerity  is  only  less  astonishing 
than  the  obvious  satisfaction  with  which  it  was 
written.  It  displays  Bonaparte  at  his  worst : 
glib,  cunning,  a  hypocrite,  and  a  liar.  It  shows, 
too,  how  completely  he  misunderstood  the  Orient 
and  its  peoples  in  supposing  that  such  a  document 
would  influence  any  of  them  in  his  favour. 

The  proclamation  begins  by  stating  that  the 
hour  of  the  chastisement  of  the  Mamelukes  has 
arrived.  "For  a  long  time,"  it  continues,  "this 
crowd  of  slaves  bought  in  Georgia  and  the  Caucasus 
have  tyrannised  the  most  beautiful  place  in  the 
world  ;  but  God,  on  whom  all  depends,  has  or- 
dained that  their  empire  is  finished.  People  of 
Egypt,  they  have  told  you  that  I  am  come  to 
destroy   your   religion.       Do    not    believe   them ! 


20     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

Answer  that  I  am  come  to  restore  your  rights,  to 
punish  the  usurpers,  and  that  I  respect,  more  than 
the  Mamelukes,  God,  His  Prophet,  and  the  Koran. 
Tell  them  that  all  men  are  equal  before  God : 
intelligence,  talents,  and  virtues  alone  differentiate 
them."  (This,  of  course,  was  rank  blasphemy  to 
Moslem  minds,  for  the  Koran  teaches  that  there 
can  be  no  equality  between  Mohammedans  and 
Christians.)  What  virtues  or  intellectual  qualities, 
he  asked  in  the  cant  of  the  Republic,  could  these 
tyrants  boast  that  should  give  them  the  exclusive 
right  to  all  that  made  life  worth  living?  Was 
there  a  beautiful  piece  of  land,  a  beautiful  slave, 
a  beautiful  horse,  a  beautiful  house  :  the  Mamelukes 
seized  it.  "  But  God  is  just  and  compassionate  to 
the  people.  .  .  .  Cadis,  shekhs,  imams,  tchorbadjis, 
say  to  the  people  that  we  are  the  friends  of  true 
Musulmans.  Is  it  not  we  who  have  destroyed  the 
Pope  who  said  that  he  was  going  to  make  war 
on  the  Musulmans  ?  Is  it  not  we  who  have 
destroyed  the  Knights  of  Malta,  because  these 
madmen  believed  that  God  wished  them  to  wage 
war  against  the  Musulmans  ?  Is  it  not  we  who 
have  been  throughout  all  the  centuries  the  friends 
of  the  Sultan  (whose  desires  may  God  fulfil !)  and 
the  enemy  of  his  enemies  ?  "  Then,  bursting  into 
biblical  language  in  order  to  give  his  discourse 
the  necessary  Oriental  touch,  he  writes  :  "  Thrice 
happy  are  those  who  will  be  on  our  side  !  They 
will   prosper   in    their    fortune    and    their    rank. 


Napoleon  Bonaparte  21 

Happy  those  who  remain  neutral !  They  will 
have  time  to  get  to  know  us,  and  will  range 
themselves  with  us.  But  woe,  woe  threefold,  to 
those  who  arm  themselves  for  the  Mamelukes  and 
fight  against  us  !  There  will  be  no  hope  for  them  : 
they  will  perish."  The  proclamation  ends  with  an 
order  to  the  religious  leaders  of  Islam  to  pray  for 
the  French  cause.  "  Each  man  will  thank  God  for 
the  destruction  of  the  Mamelukes,  and  will  cry  : 
Glory  to  the  Sultan  !  Glory  to  the  French  army, 
his  friend !  Malediction  to  the  Mamelukes,  and 
good  luck  to  the  people  of  Egypt ! " 

On  July  9,  when  the  summer  was  at  its  height, 
the  advance  on  Cairo  began.  A  garrison  having 
been  left  at  Alexandria,  the  bulk  of  the  army  took 
the  direct  road  to  the  capital,  following  the  route 
of  the  present  railway  line ;  but  General  Dugua 
with  a  smaller  force  was  sent  eastwards  to  the 
neighbouring  town  of  Kosetta,  which  stands  at 
one  of  the  mouths  of  the  Nile,  whence  he  was 
to  make  his  way  up  the  river  to  El  Rahmanieh, 
where  the  two  divisions  were  to  meet.  The  latter 
force  was  able  to  carry  its  baggage  and  provisions 
on  native  boats,  which  were  towed  up  the  stream 
with  comparative  ease ;  but  Bonaparte's  division, 
and  more  especially  its  advance-guard,  under 
General  Desaix,  suffered  great  hardships,  for  very 
insufficient  supplies  were  to  be  obtained  from  the 
impoverished  and  half-deserted  villages  along  the 
route,   while   the   wells  in  many  cases  had   been 


22     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

filled  up.  Bands  of  Arabs  continuously  harassed 
the  weary,  sweating  troops,  cutting  off  the 
stragglers  by  day  and  sniping  at  the  bivouacs 
by  night.  On  one  occasion  Bonaparte  himself 
escaped  capture  only  by  the  merest  chance.  The 
great  heat  of  an  Egyptian  summer  which  drenches 
one  in  perspiration,  the  powerful  sun  which  must 
have  caused  the  heavy  uniforms  to  be  a  torture 
to  the  wearers  and  the  metal  appurtenances  to 
become  unbearable  to  the  touch,  the  flies  and 
mosquitos  which  ceaselessly  tormented  them,  the 
unquenchable  thirst  produced  by  energetic  action 
under  the  blazing  heavens,  the  lack  of  food,  the 
constant  fear  of  attack,  and  the  unknown  fate 
which  awaited  them,  must  have  rendered  the 
march  towards  Cairo  an  experience  suggestive  of 
nightmare. 

After  ten  days  of  such  distressing  conditions 
the  temper  of  the  army  became  almost  unmanage- 
able. "  For  what  had  they  been  sent  to  Egypt  ?  " 
the  soldiers  are  said  to  have  asked.  "  Had  the 
Directoire  deported  them,  wishing  to  be  rid  of 
them  ? "  Many  of  them  drowned  themselves  in 
the  Nile,  considering  a  rapid  death  in  the  muddy 
waters  to  be  more  to  their  liking  than  a  continuity 
of  miseries  such  as  they  had  endured  since  they 
set  out  from  Alexandria.  They  were  bitterly  dis- 
appointed at  the  poverty  of  the  towns  through 
which  they  passed.  They  had  believed  Egypt  to 
be  a  land  of  palaces  whose  walls  were  studded 


Napoleon  Bonaparte  23 

with  jewels  and  whose  floors  were  paved  with 
gold.  They  had  looked  forward  to  rich  booty, 
and  had  pictured  themselves  billeted  in  splendour 
and  waited  upon  by  fair  slave-girls.  Instead  of 
all  that  their  imaginations  had  thus  portrayed, 
they  beheld  dirty  hovels  or  tumbled-down  houses, 
and  miserable,  vermin-infested  townspeople  ;  while 
of  food  there  was  little  to  be  procured,  and  that 
little  of  mean  quality. 

Bonaparte,  himself  low-spirited,  must  have  also 
experienced  something  of  the  disillusionment  under- 
gone by  his  soldiers.  Like  them,  he  had  dreamed 
of  the  riches  of  the  Orient,  and  had  permitted 
himself  to  indulge  in  the  very  common  but  very 
erroneous  belief,  that  Egypt  was  a  land  of  the 
Arabian  Nights'  variety.  He  now  saw  around 
him  in  the  sun-scorched  villages  and  fields  of  the 
Delta  nothing  but  ruin,  poverty,  and  distress. 

On  July  10  General  Desaix  arrived  with  the 
advance-guard  at  El  E-ahmanieh,  and  there  he 
encountered  a  large  force  of  Mamelukes,  who  had 
travelled  from  Cairo  confidently  expecting  to  over- 
throw the  infidels  at  the  first  shock  of  battle ;  but 
these  warriors  were  no  match  for  the  disciplined 
troops  of  France,  and  in  spite  of  a  fiery  display 
of  courage  they  were  easily  routed.  Two  days 
later  the  flotilla,  which  was  to  meet  the  main 
army  at  this  place,  was  suddenly  attacked  by 
the  Mamelukes  and  came  very  near  to  capture. 
So  serious,  indeed,  was  the  situation  that  one  of 


24     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

the  savants  attached  to  the  expedition,  named 
Bertillon,  was  observed  during  the  course  of  the 
fight  to  be  fining  his  commodious  pockets  with 
stones  taken  from  the  ballast  of  the  boat  in  which 
he  was  travelling,  in  order,  as  he  afterwards 
explained,  that  he  might  drown  the  more  quickly 
if  capture  became  otherwise  unavoidable.  At  the 
end  of  the  day,  however,  Bonaparte  arrived,  and 
the  Egyptians  were  driven  off.  One  of  the  Mame- 
luke chieftains,  exasperated  by  the  defeat,  and 
unaware  that  the  days  of  Western  chivalry  were 
as  good  as  dead,  rode  up  to  the  French  lines  clad 
in  his  Saracen  chain -armour  and  waving  his  huge 
crusading  sword.  In  a  loud  voice  he  challenged 
any  French  officer  to  single  combat ;  and  it  must 
have  been  with  indignant  astonishment  in  his 
mind  that  he  fell  a  few  moments  later  before 
the  fire  of  his  unimaginative  adversaries. 

A  week's  march  brought  the  army  in  sight  of 
the  capital,  and  on  the  20th  it  had  reached  a 
spot  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Nile  almost  exactly 
opposite  to  Cairo.  The  city  stood  on  the  east 
bank  about  a  mile  back  from  the  river,  all  the 
space  now  covered  by  the  modern  European 
quarters  of  Kasr  -  el  -  Nil  and  Kasr  -  ed  -  Doubara 
being  then  open  fields.  On  the  west  bank,  barring 
the  farther  progress  of  the  invaders,  the  Mame- 
luke army  was  drawn  up  near  the  village  of 
Embabeh.  In  the  far  distance,  many  miles  to 
the    south-west,   rose   the    three    great   pyramids, 


Napoleon  Bonaparte  25 

dim  upon  the  horizon  and  half-hidden  behind  the 
groves  of  palms.  The  order  was  given  to  pre- 
pare for  battle,  and  early  in  the  morning  of  July 
21  Bonaparte  addressed  the  troops  in  the  well- 
known  words :  "  Soldiers,  forty  centuries  are 
watching  you  " — words  which  for  some  inadequate 
reason  are  treasured  up  by  history  as  though  they 
had  something  more  than  a  theatrical  quality. 
Actually,  however,  they  were  not  at  all  apt.  The 
centuries — much  under  -  estimated — which  looked 
down  from  the  pyramids  would  have  had  to  have 
used  a  telescope  to  see  the  battle,  and  the  re- 
minder that  these  long  Egyptian  years  were 
keeping  an  eye  on  them  might  well  have  been 
somewhat  dispiriting  to  the  troops,  as  meaning 
that  the  occult  power  of  Egypt's  mighty  past 
was  standing  sentinel,  with  a  very  natural  preju- 
dice against  all  invaders.  Bonaparte  undoubtedly 
believed  himself  to  be  in  for  a  pretty  hard  day's 
work,  and  thought,  therefore,  that  the  occasion 
demanded  a  dramatic  utterance ;  but  in  reality 
he  was  faced  by  no  more  than  a  mob  of  over- 
wrought children,  led  by  a  rabble  of  dare-devil 
chieftains  without  a  rudimentary  knowledge  of 
modern  warfare.  30,000  picked  veterans  —  the 
army,  in  fact,  which  was  to  have  marched  on 
London  —  were  opposed  to  this  ill-armed  crowd 
of  no  more  than  12,000  natives ;  and  the  dis- 
proportion will  be  more  readily  appreciated  when 
it  is  remembered  that  an  English  army  of  13,000 


26     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

men  routed  the  trained  Egyptian  army  of  more 
than  twice  that  number  with  the  utmost  ease 
in  1882. 

Hearing  that  the  Mamelukes  had  entrenched 
themselves  in  front  of  the  village  of  Embabeh, 
and  had  placed  forty  guns  in  position,  Bonaparte 
decided  on  a  flank  movement,  and,  at  two  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  advanced  in  a  wide  crescent, 
each  division  marching  in  hollow  square.  Murad 
Bey,  the  Egyptian  leader,  seeing  the  manoeuvre, 
ordered  Ayoub  Bey,  one  of  his  ofiicers,  to  charge 
General  Desaix'  division  which  was  swooping  round 
to  the  west  to  attack  his  left  flank.  Ayoub  and 
his  reckless  cavalry  headed  straight  for  the  enemy, 
and  burst  their  way  into  the  open  square,  but  were 
there  entrapped  and  had  to  fight  their  way  out. 
The  French  central  division,  under  Dugua,  mean- 
while delivered  a  frontal  attack  and  captured  the 
Egyptian  trenches  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet. 
At  the  same  time  the  eastern  division,  commanded 
by  Bon  and  Vial,  got  round  between  the  enemy's 
right  flank  and  the  river,  cutting  them  off"  from 
escape  as  they  fell  back  from  the  central  attack. 
The  fight,  or  rather  massacre,  was  over  in  less 
than  an  hour.  Murad  Bey,  badly  wounded,  fled 
to  his  palace  at  Gizeh  and  thence  to  Upper  Egypt, 
leaving  many  thousands  dead  upon  the  field  or 
drowned  in  the  Nile. 

The  French  soldiers,  of  whom  less  than  thirty 
had  been  killed,  at  once  turned  the  battlefield  into 


Napoleon  Bonaparte  27 

a  vast  market.  Rich  armour,  gold-inlaid  weapons, 
gold  and  silver  coins  and  ornaments,  embroidered 
silks,  and  much  else  of  value,  fell  into  their  hands, 
and  were  bought,  sold,  or  exchanged  amongst 
themselves  during  the  remainder  of  the  afternoon. 
The  dead  were  stripped  of  their  valuables,  and 
even  the  bodies  of  those  who  had  been  drowned 
in  the  river  were  fished  for  and  similarly  treated. 
The  men  were  in  the  best  of  spirits,  believing  that 
their  troubles  were  now  at  an  end,  and,  in  the 
words  of  Bonaparte,  they  were  at  last  reconciled 
to  Egypt. 

The  Mamelukes,  meanwhile,  begged  M.  Bandeuf, 
the  leader  of  the  French  colony  in  Cairo,  whose 
safety  they  had  magnanimously  secured  through- 
out this  dangerous  period,  to  treat  with  Bonaparte, 
since  they  had  heard  that  he  only  wanted  a  free 
passage  through  to  India ;  but  ere  these  negotia- 
tions were  commenced  Bonaparte  was  bringing  his 
army  across  the  river  to  the  city.  A  dreadful 
panic  ensued,  and  Cairo  became  for  a  time  a 
frenzied  inferno.  The  houses  of  the  Beys  were 
plundered  by  the  retreating  mob,  and  precisely 
those  scenes  occurred  which  were  repeated  during 
the  Egyptian  retreat  from  Alexandria  in  1882 
after  the  bombardment.  Another  French  pro- 
clamation was  issued  to  the  townspeople  as  the 
invaders  entered  the  city.  It  stated  that  they 
had  come  to  destroy  the  Mamelukes,  and  in- 
cidentally to  protect  the  religion  of  the  Prophet 


28     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

whom  the  French  loved.  Bonaparte  was  soon 
hailed  by  the  bewildered  Egyptians  as  "  The 
Great  Sultan,"  and  within  three  days  he  had 
quieted  the  city  and  had  begun  to  organise  a 
government. 

But  while  Bonaparte,  delighted  with  his  easy 
victory,  was  indulging  in  dreams  of  vast  conquest, 
the  less  imaginative  Nelson  was  still  scouring  the 
seas  in  search  of  the  French  fleet,  and  was  once 
again  approaching  the  Egyptian  coast.  It  was  on 
August  1  that  a  middy  at  the  masthead  of  the 
Zealous  caught  sight  of  the  French  ships  lying 
in  Aboukir  Bay,  and  the  signal  was  received  by 
the  whole  fleet  with  the  utmost  joy.  Night  was 
drawing  on  when  the  ships  came  to  close  quarters, 
and  it  was  the  general  opinion  on  the  French  side 
that  the  inevitable  battle  would  be  postponed  till 
the  morning.  But  Nelson  and  his  men  had  been 
living  at  a  high  pitch  of  expectancy  for  the  last 
few  weeks,  and  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  French 
greatly  outnumbered  them  (20  ships  and  11,200 
sailors  being  opposed  to  their  12  vessels  and  7400 
men),  they  could  brook  no  delay.  They  were  sick 
of  this  dread  of  an  invasion  of  England  which  had 
hung  over  them  like  a  dark  cloud  for  so  long,  and 
here  in  these  remote  waters  they  felt  that  they 
were  about  to  fight  for  their  English  homes.  Every 
man  on  board  was  absolutely  determined  to  do  his 
best  to  destroy  Bonaparte's  fleet,  and  the  enthu- 
siasm is  said  to  have  been  most  inspiring.     There 


Napoleon  Bonaparte  29 

was  the  keenest  rivalry  on  the  part  of  Nelson's 
ships  to  be  first  into  the  bay.  The  Goliath  and 
the  Zealous  had  a  most  exciting  race  for  lead,  and 
the  profane  language  of  the  officers  and  men  of  the 
latter  vessel  when  they  proved  to  be  the  loser  is 
said  to  have  been  most  startling. 

The  French  men-o'-war  were  anchored  in  two 
lines,  but  Admiral  Brueys  had  made  what  proved 
to  be  the  mistake  of  allowing  between  each  ship 
sea-room  for  her  to  swing  round  without  colliding 
with  her  neighbour.  By  the  most  daring  and  skil- 
ful manoeuvres  some  of  the  British  ships  managed 
to  slip  in  between  the  French  vessels  and  the  shore 
and  to  attack  them  on  both  sides.  One  of  Nelson's 
finest  vessels,  the  Culloden,  grounded  and  took  no 
part  in  the  fight.  All  night  long  the  battle  raged, 
and  at  one  time  the  sailors  upon  a  certain  British 
man-o'-war  were  so  tired  that  they  were  allowed 
to  sleep  for  twenty  minutes  beside  their  guns. 
The  French  admiral  was  cut  nearly  in  two  by  a 
shot,  dying  a  few  minutes  later  upon  the  quarter- 
deck, saying  with  his  last  breath  that  that  was 
the  right  place  for  an  Admiral  of  France  to  die. 
Nelson's  forehead  was  grazed  by  a  bullet,  and  the 
flap  of  severed  skin  falling  over  his  one  eye  half 
blinded  him.  He  was  dazed  by  the  blow,  and  was 
carried  below,  but  soon  recovered  sufficiently  to 
direct  the  battle.  L' Orient,  the  French  flagship, 
blew  up  in  the  thick  of  the  fight,  and  one  by  one 
the  other  ships  were  captured  or  put  out  of  action. 


30     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

The  British  victory  was  complete,  and  at  one  blow 
the  French  schemes  for  the  conquest  of  Asia  were 
shattered. 

All  ignorant  of  the  disaster,  Bonaparte  re- 
mained in  Cairo  until  August  7,  when  he  hurried 
into  the  Eastern  Delta  to  attack  Ibrahim  Bey, 
who  had  gathered  a  small  army  together  and  had 
done  some  damage  to  the  French  garrisons  in  that 
part  of  the  country.  The  Mamelukes,  however, 
were  easily  defeated  at  Salhieh  on  August  10,  and 
Ibrahim  Bey  was  chased  out  of  Egypt.  On  his 
march  back  to  Cairo,  Bonaparte  received  news  of 
the  disaster  at  Aboukir.  ^'Eli  hien,"  he  said,  with 
no  change  in  the  expression  of  his  face,  "  it  will 
be  necessary  to  remain  in  these  countries,  or  to 
make  a  grand  exit  like  the  Ancients."  From  one 
point  of  view  the  destruction  of  the  fleet  fell  in 
with  his  schemes,  for  it  cut  him  off  from  France, 
and  made  the  advance  into  the  Orient  appear  far 
less  startling.  He  was  at  this  time  firmly  con- 
vinced that  his  destiny  lay  in  the  East,  and  his 
one  desire  was  to  lead  his  invincible  army  to 
India,  holding  them  loyal  to  him  by  rich  presents 
of  loot,  and  ultimately  to  make  himself  Emperor 
of  the  Orient.  He  believed  that  in  France  there 
was  no  future  for  him  greater  than  that  of  a 
successful  general ;  but  in  the  East  he  felt  that 
his  career  was  without  limit.  He  perceived  at 
once,  therefore,  that  the  loss  of  his  ships  expa- 
triated  himself  and   his   soldiers,   and   converted 


Napoleon  Bonaparte  31 

them  into  a  disciplined  band  of  adventurers  de- 
tached from  all  authority  save  his  own.  Now  was 
his  chance.  Now  was  the  opportunity  for  him  to 
realise  his  dreams  of  self-aggrandisement. 

With  these  thoughts  in  his  mind  he  began 
openly  to  profess  that  he  was  a  Mohammedan,  for 
he  felt  that  since  it  was  evidently  his  destiny  to 
conquer  Asia  and  to  become  the  Great  Sultan  of 
the  East,  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  hold  a  faith 
that  would  be  acceptable  to  a  large  portion  of 
the  realms  over  which  he  intended  to  rule.  He 
headed  his  proclamations  with  the  words,  "  In 
the  name  of  Allah,  the  Merciful  and  Indulgent. 
There  is  no  God  but  God.  He  has  no  son,  and 
reigns  without  a  partner."  It  was  his  idea  ulti- 
mately to  create  a  new  religion  himself,  and  to 
be  the  Prophet  of  an  up-to-date  Islamism.  "  I 
pictured  myself,"  he  said  afterwards  to  Madame 
de  Bemusat,  "  on  the  road  to  Asia,  mounted  on 
an  elephant,  with  a  turban  on  my  head,  and  in 
my  hand  a  new  Koran,  which  I  should  compose 
according  to  my  own  ideas."  He  did  his  best  to 
persuade  his  soldiers  to  adopt  the  faith  of  Islam, 
and  was  much  annoyed  at  their  refusal  to  do  so. 
General  Menou  and  several  other  officers,  how- 
ever, embraced  Mohammedanism  with  sincerity ; 
and  Napoleon  is  said  to  have  gone  so  far  as  to 
adopt  native  dress  on  certain  occasions  and  to 
have  performed  the  rites  of  Mohammedan  prayer. 
On  August  26  the  great  caravan  which  goes  each 


32     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

year  to  Mecca  with  the  holy  carpet  set  out  from 
Cairo,  and  Bonaparte  took  the  opportunity  of 
writing  to  the  Shertf  of  Mecca  assuring  him  of 
his  goodwill  towards  Islam.  "We  are  friends  of 
the  Musulmans,"  he  wrote,  "  and  of  the  religion 
of  the  Prophet ;  we  desire  to  do  everything  that 
may  be  favourable  to  the  Religion."  At  about 
the  same  time  he  sent  a  letter  to  Ahmed  Pasha 
Djezzar,  the  Governor  of  Acre  on  the  Syrian 
coast,  with  a  view  to  arriving  at  a  friendly  agree- 
ment with  this  important  neighbour,  whose  state 
acted  something  in  the  manner  of  a  buffer  be- 
tween Egypt  and  Turkey.  "You  must  know," 
he  wrote,  "that  my  first  care  on  entering  Malta 
was  to  set  at  liberty  2000  Turks,  who  for  many 
years  have  languished  in  slavery.  On  arriving 
in  Egypt  I  have  reassured  the  people  and  pro- 
tected the  Muftis,  imams,  and  mosques.  The 
Mecca  pilgrims  have  never  been  treated  with 
more  care  and  friendliness  than  I  have  shown 
to  them,  and  the  festival  of  the  Prophet  has  been 
celebrated  with  more  splendour  than  ever  before. 

.  .  The  Moslems  have  no  greater  friends  than 
the  French." 

Djezzar,  however,  had  already  seen  the  ships  of 
England  patrolling  his  coast,  sailing  silently  to 
and  fro,  day  after  day,  like  mighty  sentinels ; 
and  to   Bonaparte  he  answered  never  a  word. 

Meanwhile  the  French  had  their  hands  full  in 
Egypt.      Revolts   had   to    be    suppressed    in   the 


Napoleon  Bonaparte  33 

Delta,  and  an  expedition  had  to  be  despatched 
to  Upper  Egypt  to  effect  the  conquest  of  that 
country.  In  Cairo  the  Government  had  to  be 
reorganised,  and  Bonaparte  spent  some  time  in 
planning  and  founding  a  French  Institute  for  the 
study  of  the  Arts  and  Sciences.  His  labours  here, 
however,  were  rudely  disturbed  on  October  21  by 
a  sudden  revolt  •  of  the  townspeople,  who  killed 
General  Dupuy,  Commandant  of  the  City,  and 
several  soldiers ;  and  for  two  days  things  were 
very  uncomfortable  for  the  invaders.  Bonaparte 
was  furious,  and  as  soon  as  quiet  was  restored  he 
issued  thoroughly  Oriental  instructions  for  the 
decapitation  of  large  numbers  of  Arabs.  By  his 
orders  their  heads  were  placed  in  sacks  which 
were  conveyed  to  the  Esbekieh  and  there  opened 
in  the  presence  of  the  crowd.  All  persons  who 
had  escaped  from  jail  and  had  taken  up  arms  were 
decapitated,  and  their  headless  bodies,  by  his 
special  orders,  were  thrown  into  the  Nile.  A 
report  was  spread  that  the  Prophet  Mohammed 
had  appeared  to  Bonaparte  and  had  promised  him 
his  help  and  assistance  ;  and  it  was  now  generally 
believed  that  the  French  were  under  some  sort  of 
divine  protection.  On  December  21,  two  months 
after  the  revolt,  Bonaparte  was  able  to  issue  yet 
another  of  his  amazing  proclamations,  this  time 
addressed  to  the  people  of  Cairo,  forgiving  them 
for  their  naughtiness  and  granting  once  more  to 
them  certain  concessions  which  he  had  curtailed. 

c 


34     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

"Sherifs,  ulemas,  preachers  in  the  mosques,"  he 
wrote,  "  make  it  known  to  the  people  that  those 
who  hght-heartedly  declare  themselves  my  enemies 
shall  have  no  refuge  either  in  this  world  or  the 
next.  Is  there  a  man  so  blind  as  not  to  see 
that  Destiny  itself  directs  all  my  operations  ?  .  .  . 
Make  it  known  to  the  people  that  since  the  world 
began,  it  was  written  that  after  having  destroyed 
the  enemies  of  Islam  and  beaten  down  the  Cross, 
I  should  go  to  the  end  of  the  Orient  to  carry  out 
the  task  which  has  been  imposed  upon  me.  Make 
the  people  see  that  in  the  sacred  book  of  the 
Koran,  in  more  than  twenty  passages,  that  which 
has  now  come  to  pass  has  been  predicted,  and 
that  which  shall  come  to  pass  is  likewise  ex- 
plained. ...  In  making  their  prayers  to  heaven 
against  us,  they  solicit  their  own  condemnation  : 
let  the  true  believers  pray  for  the  success  of  our 
arms.  I  might  demand  of  each  one  of  you  an 
account  of  the  most  secret  thoughts  of  your 
hearts  :  for  I  know  everything,  even  that  which 
you  have  told  to  no  one.  But  a  day  will  come 
when  it  will  become  evident  to  all  the  world  that 
I  am  led  by  orders  from  on  high,  and  that  all 
human  efforts  against  me  are  futile.  Happy  are 
those  who  in  good  faith  are  the  first  to  place 
themselves  on  my  side." 

Bonaparte  was  here  attributing  to  himself 
divine  powers,  and  who  shall  say  that  he  did 
so  solely  to  impress  a  foolish  people  ?     Who  shall 


Napoleon  Bonaparte  35 

deny  that  he  now  had  the  intention  of  posing  to 
all  men  as  a  prophet  of  a  new  era  ?  And  yet 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  to  him  this  attitude 
was  assumed  for  purely  political  motives.  At  this 
stage  in  his  career  he  sank  to  the  lowest  level  to 
which  at  any  time  his  ambitions  brought  him ; 
for  he  now  boasted  of  his  contempt  for  our  Lord, 
and,  with  his  tongue  in  his  cheek,  professed  his 
devotion  to  the  Prophet  Mohammed.  To  further 
his  personal  ambitions  he  insulted  Christianity 
and  attempted  to  make  a  fool  of  Islam.  He  made 
the  colossal  mistake  of  supposing  that  to  rule  the 
Orient  he  must  pose  as  an  Oriental.  He  was 
blind  to  the  fact  that  the  one  thing  for  which  the 
Orient  was  seeking  was  an  upright  ruler.  Could 
he  have  beheld  that  future  sequence  of  honest 
men  who  obtained  the  devotion  of  Hindoo  and 
Egyptian,  not  by  the  renunciation  of  the  Cross, 
but  by  the  straightforwardness  of  their  characters, 
he  would  have  been  filled  with  astonishment. 
Could  he  have  seen  the  God-fearing  King  of 
England  seated  upon  that  throne  of  India  to 
obtain  which  he,  the  mighty  Bonaparte,  had 
schemed  and  lied  and  blasphemed  in  vain  ;  could 
he  have  beheld  the  peoples  of  India  enthusiastic- 
ally receiving  their  English  Emperor,  who  stands 
as  the  symbol  of  that  quality  of  quiet  integrity 
which  Bonaparte  discarded  as  worthless,  he  might 
indeed  have  hidden  his  face  for  very  shame. 

The  Turks,  probably  encouraged  by  the  English, 


36     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

declared  war  against  the  French  early  in  January 
1799,  and  mobilised  their  troops  at  Khodes  and 
in  Syria.  Bonaparte,  having  decided  to  take  the 
offensive,  at  once  began  to  organise  an  expedition 
into  Syria,  and  early  in  February  he  set  out  with 
nearly  his  whole  army  to  cross  the  desert  to 
Gaza.  He  arrived  at  that  town  on  February  25, 
and  on  March  7  Jaffa  was  taken  by  assault — all 
the  prisoners,  between  4000  and  5000,  being 
taken  out  upon  the  beach  and  there  butchered 
in  cold  blood  by  the  express  orders  of  the  Cor- 
sican  "  Sultan,"  who  at  a  later  date  attempted  to 
justify  his  conduct  on  the  plea  of  expediency.  On 
March  19  the  army  arrived  in  sight  of  the  seaport 
of  Acre,  and  it  must  have  been  with  the  utmost 
annoyance  that  Bonaparte  discerned  upon  its  walls 
the  heavy  guns  which  very  imprudently  he  had 
sent  by  sea  to  be  delivered  to  him  at  this  spot, 
but  which  had  been  captured  by  the  ubiquitous 
English  and  landed  at  Acre.  He  learnt  also  to 
his  chagrin  that  the  town  had  been  put  into  a 
state  of  defence  by  a  French  Boyalist  engineer 
named  Phelippeaux  and  by  Sir  Sidney  Smith, 
the  reckless  English  naval  officer  who,  five  years 
previously,  had  set  fire  to  the  arsenal  of  Toulon. 
These  two  men  were  now  in  command  of  the  small 
Turkish  garrison  of  Acre,  and  were  calmly  defying 
the  whole  French  army. 

Acre  was  to  some  extent  to  be  regarded  as  the 
key  to  Syria,  for  although  it  was  a  town  of  small 


Napoleon  Bonaparte  37 

size,  it  could  not  be  left  unsubdued  in  the  rear  of 
an  advancing  army.  "  In  that  miserable  fort," 
said  Napoleon  at  a  later  date,  "  lay  the  fate  of 
the  East."  "When  I  have  captured  it,"  he  told 
his  generals,  "  I  shall  march  on  Damascus  and 
Aleppo.  I  shall  arm  the  tribes.  I  shall  reach 
Constantinople.  I  shall  turn  the  Turkish  Empire 
upside  down."  And  more  than  this  :  when  Acre 
fell  Bonaparte  would  begin  in  earnest  his  reign  as 
Sultan  of  the  Orient  and  Prophet  of  the  new 
Islam.  But  Acre  did  not  fall.  The  grimy  faces 
of  those  few  British  bluejackets  smiled  at  him 
from  the  rotten  walls,  day  after  day  defying  him 
and  enraging  him  with  their  light-hearted  taunts. 
With  the  aid  of  the  men-o'-war  in  the  harbour 
Sir  Sidney  Smith  kept  up  an  astonishing  defence, 
again  and  again  repulsing  the  French  troops.  The 
sailors  fought  with  a  will,  thoroughly  enjoying 
their  tussle  with  the  great  "  Boney,"  patting  the 
Turks  on  the  back  with  friendly  energy,  as  a 
certain  writer  states,  and  leading  them  out  in  one 
daring  sally  after  another.  The  little  garrison  of 
less  than  3000  men  all  told  wrought  havoc  amongst 
Bonaparte's  mighty  army  ;  and  by  the  time  that 
the  siege  had  lasted  a  month  the  French  irritation 
had  caused  the  fighting  to  be  daily  of  the  most 
desperate  character.  The  enemy  often  succeeded 
in  obtaining  a  temporary  footing  at  the  very  gates 
of  the  town,  and  here  they  would  entrench  them- 
selves  by   erecting   walls    of  sandbags,    amongst 


38     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

which  the  still  warm  bodies  of  their  fallen  com- 
rades were  built  in.  By  the  first  week  in  May 
nearly  forty  assaults  had  been  made  on  the  town, 
and  Sir  Sidney  Smith  had  led  over  twenty  sorties. 
In  some  of  these  the  midshipmen  rendered  valu- 
able service  by  running  forward  with  an  armful  of 
grenades  and  throwing  them  like  so  many  snow- 
balls at  the  exasperated  French  veterans.  The 
only  disaster  on  the  English  side  was  caused  by 
the  over-zeal  of  a  middy  who  was  amusing  him- 
self by  collecting  unexploded  French  shells,  which 
were  to  be  used  against  their  original  owners,  and 
who  blew  himself  and  his  ship  to  smithereens  in 
the  process. 

On  May  8  a  Turkish  fleet  approached  the  port 
with  reinforcements  from  Rhodes,  and  Bonaparte 
therefore  made  a  desperate  attack  upon  the  town. 
The  fighting  was  hand-to-hand,  and  at  one  time 
the  very  spearheads  of  the  opposing  standards 
were  locked.  The  enemy,  however,  was  driven 
back  with  dreadful  slaughter.  The  fighting  lasted 
all  day,  and  towards  evening  a  last  assault  was 
delivered  by  General  Kleber's  famous  grenadiers. 
Bonaparte,  standing  upon  a  gun  in  the  nearest 
French  battery,  watched  the  fight  with  white, 
expressionless  face  ;  and  although  members  of  his 
stafl*  were  killed  around  him,  he  was  far  too 
desperate  and  far  too  angry  to  move  to  a  safer 
position.  He  watched  the  gigantic  Kleber  leading 
his  men  up  to  the  breach,  he  watched  the  appalling 


Napoleon  Bonaparte  39 

struggle  under  the  blackened,  ruined  walls,  and 
finally  he  saw  his  invincible  grenadiers  pushed 
down  the  hill  once  more,  pursued  by  Sir  Sidney 
Smith  and  his  sailors,  while  Kleber,  black  with 
powder  and  grime,  and  voiceless  with  rage,  tried 
in  vain  to  rally  them. 

On  May  20,  sixty  days  after  the  beginning  of 
the  siege,  Bonaparte  was  in  full  retreat  back  to 
Egypt,  leaving  behind  him  4000  dead  Frenchmen, 
amongst  whom  were  eight  generals.  The  temper 
of  his  army  was  sullen,  and  he  himself  was  in  the 
lowest  depths  of  depression.  His  dreams  of  an 
Oriental  empire  were  shattered,  and  bitterly  he 
spoke  of  "  that  young  fool,"  Sidney  Smith,  as  the 
man  who  had  "  spoiled  his  destiny." 

Previous  to  invading  Syria,  Bonaparte  had  sent 
a  letter  to  Tippoo  Sahib  at  Mysore,  saying  that  he 
was  coming  to  relieve  him  from  the  iron  yoke  of 
the  English,  but  this  letter  had  fallen  into  the 
hands  of  these  very  English,  who  seemed  destined 
to  thwart  him  at  every  point ;  and  it  had  served 
to  spur  them  on  to  action  in  India,  with  the  result 
that  on  May  4  Seringapatam  was  stormed  and 
Tippoo  Sahib  slain.  And  thus  on  all  sides  the 
hopes  of  attacking  England  in  India  were  wrecked. 

The  march  back  to  Egypt  was  a  terrible  affair. 
Plague  attacked  the  army,  and  many  faithful 
soldiers  had  to  be  left  to  die  upon  the  roads.  At 
Jaffa,  Bonaparte  was  so  averse  to  leaving  his 
wounded — some  600  in  number — to  the  mercy  of 


40     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

the  Arabs,  that  he  discussed  with  the  doctors  the 
desirabiHty  of  poisoning  them  all ;  and  there  is 
considerable  reason  to  suppose  that  he  actually 
issued  orders  to  this  effect,  and  that  some  580 
were  poisoned.  Seven  who  survived  were  rescued 
by  Sir  Sidney  Smith  two  days  after  the  French 
had  departed.  Reaching  Egypt,  Bonaparte  entered 
Cairo  with  flags  flying,  pretending  that  he  had 
returned  as  a  conqueror  to  his  headquarters ;  but 
a  month  later,  on  July  14,  an  enormous  Turkish 
army  landed  at  Aboukir  in  pursuit  of  him.  Bona- 
parte attacked  them  on  the  25th,  and  although 
they  were  assisted  by  a  few  English  ships,  he 
thoroughly  defeated  them,  driving  them  into  the 
sea,  where  thousands  who  had  escaped  fire  and 
sword  were  miserably  drowned.  The  victory  meant 
a  great  deal  to  Bonaparte,  for  it  covered  in  its 
glory  the  miserable  failure  of  his  Syrian  campaign. 
He  had  now  digested  the  fact  that  his  hopes  of 
conquering  the  Orient  were  vain,  and  that  it  was 
not  his  destiny  any  longer  to  become  a  Prophet  in 
the  East ;  and  his  one  idea  was  to  slip  back  to 
France  as  quickly  as  possible.  If  this  battle  had 
not  been  fought  he  would  have  been  obliged  to 
return  as  a  defeated  commander ;  but  now  he 
could  sail  for  France,  bringing  with  him  the  news 
of  the  destruction  of  the  Turkish  army.  Sir 
Sidney  Smith,  who  was  cruising  ofl"  the  coast,  sent 
him  after  the  battle  a  bundle  of  French  news- 
papers, in  which  the  situation  in  France  was 
painted  in  very  gloomy  colours.     Bonacparte  sat  up 


Napoleon  Bonaparte  41 

all  night  reading  the  news,  and  by  morning  he  had 
definitely  decided  to  leave  at  once.  Two  frigates 
were  prepared  with  the  utmost  secrecy,  and  on  the 
night  of  August  22  he  set  sail.  He  and  his  staff 
had  ridden  down  to  the  vessel  on  horseback,  for 
the  mooring-place  lay  off  a  desolate  stretch  of 
beach  several  miles  from  his  camp ;  and  when  the 
abandoned  horses  galloped  riderless  back  to  the 
lines  at  dead  of  night,  the  secret  was  out.  The 
army  was  aghast,  and  imprecations  were  heaped 
upon  the  flying  commander-in-chief,  who  was  con- 
sidered to  have  forsaken  his  faithful  soldiers  when 
most  they  needed  him.  General  Kleber  was  left 
in  command,  but  though  he  was  popular  with  the 
soldiers  he  did  not  inspire  confidence  on  every 
occasion,  and  the  situation  of  the  army  was  thus 
by  no  means  pleasant. 

Bonaparte  slunk  along  the  African  coast,  and  by 
the  exercise  of  the  utmost  care  the  vessels  man- 
aged to  elude  the  English  ships  which  had  gone 
back  to  Cyprus  for  supplies,  never  thinking  that 
Bonaparte  would  desert  in  this  manner.  Early  in 
October,  after  playing  the  part  of  a  hunted  hare 
for  six  weeks,  he  landed  in  France  once  more,  and 
was  soon  thrilling  the  members  of  the  Directoire 
with  the  tales  of  his  real  and  imaginary  victories. 

The  story  need  not  here  be  told  in  detail  of  how 
the  French  army,  abandoned  in  Egypt,  was  harried 
by  Turks,  Mamelukes,  and  Egyptians,  how  General 
Kleber  was  assassinated,  and  how  at  last  they  had 
to  face  a  British  expeditionary  force  which  was 


42     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

landed  near  Alexandria  in  March  1801.  It  is  only 
necessary  to  state  that  not  long  after  the  desperate 
battle  named  after  that  city,  the  whole  army  of 
24,000  French  troops  with  312  guns  surrendered 
to  the  15,000  English  troops  which  had  been  sent 
for  their  chastisement. 

When  Bonaparte  heard  the  news  of  the  capitu- 
lation of  his  army,  his  anguish  is  said  to  have  been 
really  genuine.  "We  have  lost  Egypt ! "  he  cried. 
"  My  projects  and  my  dreams  have  alike  been 
destroyed  by  England." 

Thus  ended  the  French  campaign  in  the  Orient, 
and  thus  "  the  great  adventure,"  as  it  is  so  often 
called,  came  to  a  conclusion.     Historians  are  much 
inclined  to  forget  the  details  of  this  amazing  phase 
in  the  life  of  Bonaparte,  and  to  gloss  it  over  by 
laying  stress  on  its  inherent  romance.     The  hero- 
worshipper  does   not  enjoy  a  description   of  the 
wonderful    Corsican    in    his   rdle   as   an   Eastern 
potentate,   attributing  divine   powers   to    himself, 
rejecting  Christianity,  and  incidentally  cutting  off 
people's  heads.     Yet  it  must  always  be  remem- 
bered that  it  was  England  who  hammered  sense 
into  Napoleon,  and   her  guns  that  shattered   his 
fantastic  dreams  of  Oriental  omnipotence.     It  was 
England  who  sent  the  would-be  prophet  back  to 
Europe  to  begin  his  adventures  anew ;  and  when, 
instead   of  Sultan   in    the   East,   he   had   become 
Emperor  in  the  West,  it  was  England  who  termin- 
ated his  second  phase  as  she  had  his  first.     He 
left  his  marks,  however,  on  Europe ;  but  Egypt 


Napoleon  Bonaparte  43 

already  in  1802  is  said  to  have  shown  practically 
no  sign  of  his  treatment.  His  Oriental  campaign 
was  a  failure  through  and  through,  and  the 
impression  made  upon  the  quiet  Egyptians  by 
"the  Great  Sultan"  was  absolutely  nil. 

In  the  year  1907  a  detachment  of  English  troops 
was  route-marching  in  the  Delta,  and,  being  some- 
what short  of  provisions,  halted  near  a  small 
village  in  order  to  purchase  a  few  chickens  and 
pigeons.  The  Omdeli,  or  headman,  hearing  the 
news  and  thinking  that  the  supplies  were  to  be 
commandeered  without  payment,  hurriedly  sought 
amongst  his  papers  until  he  had  found  a  certain 
document  preserved  with  care  in  a  sealed  envelope. 
With  this  in  hand  he  made  his  way  to  the  officer 
in  command,  and  told  him  that  the  village  was 
exempt  from  supplying  food  to  the  troops,  this 
document  being  proof  of  his  statement.  The 
officer  opened  the  envelope  and  found  therein 
an  order  signed  by  one  of  Bonaparte's  generals, 
stating  that  in  return  for  services  rendered  to  the 
French  army  the  village  was  to  be  free  from 
interference  in  future. 

The  Englishman  smiled,  and  laid  the  document 
aside. 

"  This  was  made  out  by  the  French  over  a 
hundred  years  ago,"  he  said  to  the  Omdeh.  "  It 
is  no  longer  valid." 

The  Egyptian  shrugged  his  shoulders.  "French 
or  English,"  he  replied,  "  now  or  then  :  it  is  all 
the  same  to  us.      We  are  the  same  people." 


44 


CHAPTER    11. 


MOHAMMED   ALT. 


The  story  of  the  life  and  activities  of  Mohammed 
Ali,  the  founder  of  the  Khedivial  dynasty  of  Egypt, 
so  clearly  reveals  the  foundations  upon  which  the 
Turco-Egyptian  arrangements  of  later  years  have 
been  based,  that  it  should  be  studied  with  care 
by  all  those  who  would  understand  the  affairs  of 
the  Near  East.  Mohammed  Ali  was  the  first  to 
bring  Egypt  into  the  forefront  of  international 
politics,  and  at  one  time  he  was  the  cause  of 
such  grave  misunderstandings  between  England, 
Prussia,  Kussia,  Austria,  and  France  that  a  Euro- 
pean war  seemed  inevitable.  His  rugged  person- 
ality dominated  the  Near  Eastern  situation  in  the 
'thirties  and  early  'forties  ;  and  for  some  years  it 
was  generally  believed  that  he  would  overthrow 
the  Sultan  of  Turkey  and  would  establish  himself 
upon  the  Ottoman  throne.  With  extraordinary 
energy,  courage,  and  ruthlessness  he  fought  his 
way  to  power,  and  earned  for  himself  the  splendid 
nickname  of  "  The  Lion  of  the  Levant "  ;  and,  had 


Mohammed  Ali  45 

it  not  been  for  the  intervention  of  England  and 
Russia,  he  would  have  restored  to  Egypt  a  dominion 
as  extensive  as  any  ever  governed  by  the  proudest 
of  the  Pharaohs.  Instead  of  this,  however,  he  was 
forced  to  content  himself  with  ruling  Egypt  as  a 
vassal  of  the  Sultan ;  and  he  died  a  disappointed 
man,  leaving  to  posterity  the  recurrent  Egyptian 
question  and  the  anomalous  Egypto-Turkish  re- 
lationship which  has  been  such  a  thorough  nuisance 
to  the  Great  Powers  ever  since. 

Mohammed  Ali  was  by  nationality  an  Albanian, 
being  a  native  of  the  small  seaport  town  of  Cavalla, 
near  the  frontier  of  Thrace  and  Macedonia,  where 
his  father  was  both  a  fisherman  and  a  small  land- 
owner, and  held  also  the  position  of  captain  of  the 
local  watchmen  of  the  roads.  He  was  born  in  1769, 
the  same  year  in  which  Napoleon  Bonaparte  and 
the  Duke  of  Wellington  first  saw  the  light.  While 
yet  a  child  he  was  left  an  almost  penniless  orphan, 
and  was  taken  into  the  household  of  the  Chief 
Magistrate  of  the  town,  to  whom  he  was  related. 
Here  he  was  allowed  to  grow  up  amongst  the 
serving-men,  hangers-on,  dogs,  cats,  cattle,  and 
poor  relations,  who  are  always  to  be  found  in  the 
back  premises  of  the  house  of  an  Eastern  notable  ; 
and  it  is  said  that  he  soon  found  favour  in  this 
motley  throng  by  his  good-humour  and  his  cour- 
age in  settling  the  constant  brawls  and  fights 
which  occurred  alike  amongst  the  company  and 
the  animals.     It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  in 


46     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

such  surroundings  he  would  receive  much  educa- 
tion. He  never  learnt  to  read  or  write  with  any 
fluency,  and  throughout  his  life  he  regarded  books 
as  unnecessary  lumber.  "The  only  books  I  ever 
read,"  he  was  wont  to  remark  in  after  years,  "  are 
men's  faces,  and  I  seldom  read  them  amiss." 

While  still  a  youth  he  began  to  earn  a  little 
money  by  trading  in  tobacco,  a  business  much 
practised  in  Cavalla ;  and  during  the  course  of 
his  small  operations  he  formed  a  close  friendship 
with  a  wandering  Frenchman,  named  Leon,  who 
picked  up  a  precarious  livelihood  as  a  general 
merchant  in  this  part  of  the  world.  From  Mon- 
sieur Leon  he  received  the  main  portion  of  those 
scraps  of  general  knowledge  which  composed  his 
entire  education ;  and  from  him  he  first  learnt 
of  that  great  European  world  in  which  he  was 
destined  to  play  so  leading  a  part.  The  French 
man  was  considerably  older  than  himself,  and  the 
young  Albanian  soon  came  to  look  up  to  him  as 
a  kind  of  hero  and  monitor.  Though  entirely 
obscure,  this  roving  merchant  must  have  been  a 
man  of  character,  for  Mohammed  Ali  in  after 
years  neither  forgot  him  nor  ceased  to  be  influ- 
enced by  those  friendly  sentiments  towards  France 
which  Monsieur  Leon  had  instilled  into  him  at 
Cavalla;  and  it  may  be  said  that  when,  in  1840, 
France  nearly  took  up  arms  against  the  whole  of 
Europe  in  defence  of  the  great  position  which 
Mohammed   Ali    had   won    for   himself,    she   was 


Mohammed  Ali  47 

merely  carrying  to  its  romantic  conclusion  the 
attitude  which,  years  previously,  Monsieur  Leon 
had  adopted  towards  the  uneducated  Albanian 
boy.  It  is  pleasant  to  find  that  when  Mohammed 
Ali  had  become  virtual  Sovereign  of  Egypt  he 
did  not  rest  until  he  had  discovered  the  where- 
abouts of  his  old  friend,  to  whom  he  sent  an 
invitation  to  come  to  Egypt,  where,  he  said,  a 
fortune  awaited  him.  Monsieur  Leon,  who  had 
fallen  on  evil  days,  hastened  to  accept  the  in- 
vitation ;  but  poverty  and  hardship  had  under- 
mined his  health,  and  he  died  on  the  dav  of  his 

t/ 

departure.  Mohammed  Ali,  on  hearing  the  news, 
was  much  affected,  and  promptly  sent  a  present 
of  £400  to  the  merchant's  sister  as  a  memento 
of  his  youthful  days  at  Cavalla. 

At  an  early  age  the  young  man  showed  his 
courage  and  resourcefulness.  The  inhabitants  of 
a  village  not  far  from  Cavalla  refused  to  pay 
a  tax  which  had  to  be  collected  by  the  Chief 
Magistrate,  and  Mohammed  Ali  volunteered  to 
go  and  get  the  money  by  force.  With  three  or 
four  men  he  rode  over  to  the  rebellious  village, 
and,  entering  the  mosque  at  the  time  of  prayer, 
quietly  performed  his  devotions  there,  until  sud- 
denly he  found  an  opportunity  to  pinion  the  four 
principal  inhabitants  as  they  knelt  unsuspectingly 
in  prayer.  He  then  announced  to  the  astonished 
congregation  that  if  there  was  the  slightest  show 
of  hostility  on  their  part,  his  prisoners  would  in- 


48     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

stantly  be  knifed ;  and  by  this  hazardous  device 
he  was  able  to  march  the  four  men  to  Cavalla, 
where  they  were  forced  to  produce  the  tax-money, 
and  much  more  besides,  ere  they  were  suffered  to 
return  to  their  homes.  As  a  reward  for  his  ser- 
vices Mohammed  Ali  was  made  an  officer  in  the 
town-guard ;  but  nevertheless  he  continued  to 
carry  on  his  trade  in  tobacco,  by  which  means  he 
had  been  able  to  amass  a  small  amount  of  money. 
It  will  be  best,  perhaps,  to  note  without  comment 
that  the  commander  of  the  guard  died  suddenly 
shortly  afterwards,  whereupon  Mohammed  Ali 
stepped  into  his  shoes  and  married  his  beautiful 
widow.  His  feet  were  now  upon  the  first  rung 
of  the  ladder,  and  Fortune  smiled  upon  him.  It 
is  said  that  shortly  before  he  was  born  a  fortune- 
teller had  informed  his  mother  that  her  child 
would  become  a  ruler  of  men ;  and  this  prophecy 
now  had  some  influence  upon  him,  whetting  his 
ambitions  and  urging  him  to  further  activities. 
Already  his  appearance  indicated  to  those  who 
knew  him  that  much  was  to  be  expected  of  him. 
He  was  short,  thick-set,  and  extremely  active. 
He  had  a  very  fine  head  and  forehead,  shaggy 
eyebrows,  and  deep-set  grey  eyes,  in  which,  so 
it  is  said,  a  strange  wild  fire  sometimes  gleamed. 
He  had  a  straight  nose,  a  large  but  not  coarse 
mouth,  and  a  heavy  beard  and  moustache.  When 
angry,  his  countenance  was  very  terrible ;  but 
when,  as  was  more  often  the  case,  he  was  in  high 


Mohammed  Ali  49 

and  dashing  humour,  his  eyes  and  mouth  assumed 
an  expression  of  droll,  rather  malicious  fun.  His 
mind,  as  well  as  his  body,  was  restless  and  highly 
strung ;  and  there  seems  to  have  been  some  dis- 
tinct strain  of  eccentricity  in  his  blood. 

In  1798,  when  the  young  man  was  twenty-nine 
years  of  age,  the  Sultan  decided  to  send  an  army 
to  Egypt  to  oust  the  French  from  that  province 
of  his  empire,  where,  under  the  command  of  Bona- 
parte, they  had  established  themselves,  ostensibly 
with  the  purpose  of  protecting  foreigners  against 
the  outrages  of  the  Mameluke  chieftains  who  held 
authority  in  Cairo  and  Alexandria.  A  troop  of 
three  hundred  men  was  beaten  up  in  the  district 
of  Cavalla  for  service  in  the  war,  the  command 
being  given  to  the  Chief  Magistrate's  son ;  and 
Mohammed  Ali  managed  to  persuade  his  relative 
to  appoint  him  as  his  lieutenant.  This  force  joined 
the  main  Turkish  army  a  few  months  later,  and 
on  July  14,  1799,  was  landed  at  Aboukir,  on  the 
Egyptian  coast.  Here,  by  a  process  of  events 
which  can  but  be  guessed  at,  it  was  arranged  that 
the  Chief  Magistrate's  son  should  return  home  to 
Cavalla ;  and  as  soon  as  he  had  departed  Moham- 
med Ali  promoted  himself  to  the  vacant  command. 
A  few  days  later,  on  July  25,  Bonaparte  utterly 
routed  the  Turkish  army,  driving  it  into  the  sea ; 
and  Mohammed  Ali  was  saved  from  drowning  by 
the  gig  of  the  British  Admiral,  Sir  Sidney  Smith, 
who  had  anchored  in  Aboukir  Bay  in  order  to  give 

D 


50     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

a  helping  hand  to  the  Turks.  Thereafter  he  dis- 
appears from  the  pages  of  history  for  a  couple  of 
years  ;  and  the  student's  attention  is  turned  to 
the  confused  bedlam  in  Egypt,  out  of  which  the 
Albanian  adventurer  is  presently  to  emerge,  sword 
in  hand. 

Bonaparte's  invasion  had  been  directed  against 
the  Mamelukes,  the  more  or  less  independent 
rulers  of  this  province  of  the  Turkish  empire ; 
but  England,  on  the  other  hand,  being  at  war 
with  France,  had  naturally  taken  the  side  of  these 
picturesque  ruffians.  The  Turks  and  the  English 
had  fought  side  by  side  against  the  French  ;  but, 
in  spite  of  this,  the  Porte  was  not  friendly  to  the 
Mamelukes,  who  were  regarded  as  insubordinate 
vassals.  When  Bonaparte  deserted  Egypt  in 
August  1799,  the  French  troops  left  behind  fell 
upon  troubled  days.  An  Ottoman  army  (in  which 
Mohammed  Ali  may  have  been  serving)  captured 
the  frontier  fortress  of  El  Arish  and  marched  on 
Cairo,  but  was  defeated  by  General  Kleber  at 
Matarieh,  outside  the  city.  An  insurrection  in 
Cairo  ensued,  and  large  numbers  of  French  and 
other  Christians  were  massacred ;  but  finally 
Kleber  regained  possession  of  his  headquarters 
after  a  sanguinary  battle  on  April  14,  1800.  He 
was  assassinated,  however,  two  months  later,  and 
was  succeeded  in  the  command  by  General  Menon, 
an  eccentric  personage,  who,  after  having  dis- 
tinguished himself  by  causing  Kleber's  murderer 


Mohammed  Ali  51 

to  be  put  to  a  lingering  death  by  torture  (although 
he  had  been  promised  a  free  pardon),  became  a 
Mohammedan  and  deprived  the  Egyptian  Christ- 
ians of  many  of  their  privileges.  His  inglorious 
and  capricious  rule  was  brought  to  a  close  by  the 
arrival  of  a  British  army  in  March  1801,  which 
defeated  the  French,  and  caused  them  to  capitu- 
late in  the  following  June.  The  British  forces 
were  assisted  by  the  Turks,  amongst  whom  Mo- 
hammed Ali  once  more  appears,  now  as  the  officer 
commanding  a  force  of  Albanian  cavalry.  On 
May  9  he  headed  a  bold  charge  of  his  horsemen 
at  the  battle  of  Rahmanieh,  and  also  showed  great 
ingenuity  and  pluck  in  carrying  out  a  night  attack 
upon  a  fort  held  by  the  French.  So  conspicuous 
was  his  bravery  on  these  occasions  that  Khosrov 
Pasha,  the  nominal  Turkish  Governor  of  Egypt, 
promoted  him  to  the  command  of  an  entire 
Albanian  contingent,  consisting  of  some  4000 
men ;  and  in  this  capacity  he  was  attached  to 
the  British  army,  being  particularly  noticed  and 
commended  by  the  Commander-in-Chief 

As  soon  as  the  French  army  had  been  forced 
to  leave  the  country  in  September  1801,  the  Brit- 
ish officers  beofan  to  find  that  their  association 
with  the  Turks  was  by  no  means  an  unqualified 
success.  The  interests  of  the  two  nations  had 
been  identical  in  driving  Bonaparte  out  of  Egypt, 
but  that  being  accomplished,  the  divergence  of 
their  points  of  view  became  daily  more  apparent. 


52     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

The  Turks  very  naturally  wished  to  regain  control 
in  their  province,  which  meant  that  they  desired 
to  crush  the  independent  spirit  of  the  Mameluke 
chieftains  whose  authority  was  recognised  by  the 
Egyptians.  These  Mamelukes  were  mostly  of 
Circassian  origin,  and  were  the  descendants  of 
the  slaves  who  had  been  settled  in  the  country 
during  the  Middle  Ages.  In  some  ways  they  were 
to  the  Egyptians  what  the  Normans  had  been  to 
the  English  a  century  or  two  after  the  Conquest ; 
and  though  they  acknowledged  in  a  general  way 
the  suzerainty  of  the  Sultan,  they  ruled  the 
various  districts  of  the  Nile  Valley  without  any 
appreciable  interference  on  the  part  of  their  over- 
lord. They  were  a  brave,  cruel,  dashing,  barbaric, 
and  picturesque  company,  famous  for  their  horse- 
manship and  for  the  reckless  extravagance  of 
their  apparel  and  entourage.  They  clothed  "them- 
selves in  splendid  silks,  stuck  all  over  with  gold 
ornaments  and  bejewelled  daggers  and  pistols. 
Their  horses  were  selected  from  the  purest  blood 
of  Syria  ;  their  women  slaves  were  purchased  from 
amongst  the  most  beautiful  Georgian  and  Circas- 
sian stock  to  be  found  in  the  markets  of  Con- 
stantinople and  Smyrna ;  and  their  trains  of 
musicians,  dancers,  serving  -  men,  and  warriors 
were  renowned  alike  for  their  splendour  and  their 
licentiousness.  In  their  isolation  from  intimate 
comment,  they  made  a  very  romantic  appeal  to 
the  British  mind,   and  the  French   attack   upon 


Mohammed  Ali  53 

them  caused  them  to  be  regarded  as  meriting  all 
assistance,  which,  in  actual  fact,  was  an  absurdly 
generous  estimate  of  their  worth. 

The  British  Government  now  made  representa- 
tions to  the  Porte,  urging  a  tolerant  treatment  of 
the  Mamelukes ;  but  in  spite  of  this  the  Turkish 
admiral,  having  invited  a  number  of  these  chief- 
tains to  a  fete  upon  his  flagship,  treacherously 
fired  upon  them  while  they  were  coming  to  him 
in  open  boats,  and  killed  or  captured  them  all. 
General  Hely  Hutchinson,  the  British  commander, 
was  furious  at  this  outrage,  which  had  taken  place 
almost  under  his  eyes ;  and  as  a  result  of  his  pro- 
test the  prisoners  were  handed  over  to  his  care. 
At  the  same  time,  the  Turkish  general  in  Cairo 
arrested  as  many  of  the  remaining  chieftains  as 
he  could  lay  hands  on ;  but  the  British  forced  him 
to  give  them  up.  Not  long  after  this  Khosrov 
Pasha,  with  7000  Turks,  attacked  a  Mameluke 
force  of  800  men  commanded  by  two  famous  chief- 
tains, Osman  el  Bardisi  and  Mohammed  el  Alfi ; 
but  his  large  force  was  utterly  routed,  and  the 
Ottoman  hold  on  Egypt  was  thereby  greatly 
endangered. 

Mohammed  Ali  now  began  to  realise  that  he 
was  fighting  upon  the  losing  side,  for  the  Mame- 
lukes had  every  reason  to  be  confident  both  in 
their  own  strength  and  in  the  support  of  the 
British ;  and  he  therefore  showed  an  inclination 
to  abandon  the  Turkish  cause.     In  March  1803, 


54     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

however,  the  British  army  evacuated  the  country, 
taking  with  them  to  England  the  Mameluke  chief- 
tain El  Alfi,  who  was  to  consult  the  Home  Govern- 
ment as  to  the  best  method  of  establishing  an 
independent  Egypt  under  Mameluke  rule.  Mo- 
hammed Ali,  therefore,  was  left  to  decide  his 
attitude  upon  its  own  merits ;  and  it  was  not  long 
before  he  showed  in  which  direction  he  believed 
his  best  interests  to  lie.  About  six  weeks  after 
the  departure  of  the  British  army,  the  entire 
Albanian  force  in  Egypt,  commanded  by  Tahir 
Pasha,  to  whom  Mohammed  Ali  was  lieutenant, 
came  to  blows  with  the  Turkish  Governor,  Khos- 
rov  Pasha,  in  regard  to  their  pay.  They  seized 
the  Citadel  at  Cairo,  and  from  this  eminence 
bombarded  the  Governor  in  his  palace  in  the 
Esbekieh,  a  low-lying  district  at  that  time  near 
the  western  outskirts  of  the  city.  Khosrov  man- 
aged to  escape  by  river  to  Damietta ;  and  Tahir 
was  proclaimed  Governor  in  his  stead.  Less  than 
a  month  later  he,  in  his  turn,  found  himself  unable 
to  pay  his  troops ;  and  by  one  of  those  remarkable 
manoeuvres,  of  which  we  have  already  noticed  two 
instances,  Mohammed  Ali  managed  to  obtain  the 
chief  command,  Tahir  meeting  his  death  in  the 
process. 

Now  having  all  the  Albanians  at  his  back,  he 
attacked  the  remainder  of  the  Turkish  army, 
and  soon  afterwards  made  an  alliance  with  the 
Mamelukes  under  El   Bardisi.      The  Porte  then 


Mohammed  AH  55 

appointed  a  new  Governor  of  Egypt,  a  certain 
Ahmed  Pasha ;  but  Mohammed  Ali  of  course 
refused  to  recognise  him.  No  sooner  had  the 
unfortunate  Turk  arrived  at  his  official  residence 
in  the  middle  of  Cairo,  than  the  Albanians  from 
the  Citadel  and  the  Mamelukes  from  the  west 
bank  of  the  Nile  attacked  him  and  made  him 
prisoner.  They  then  marched  on  Damietta,  and 
received  the  surrender  also  of  the  fugitive  Khosrov 
Pasha.  Mohammed  Ali,  on  his  return  to  Cairo, 
made  El  Bardisi  mayor  of  the  city,  or  Shekh-el- 
Beled,  and  approved  the  appointment  of  a  nominal 
Turkish  Governor  whose  authority  was  negligible. 
The  appointment  of  this  representative  of  the 
Porte  was  regarded  by  Mohammed  Ali  simply 
as  a  means  of  holding  the  post  open  for  him- 
self, as  soon  as  he  should  have  opportunity  to 
bring  his  authority  before  the  notice  of  the 
Porte ;  for  he  now  aimed  at  nothing  less  than 
the  complete  control  of  Egypt.  He  had  no  inten- 
tion of  remaining  in  alliance  with  the  Mamelukes 
when  once  his  own  position  was  secure  ;  and  he 
felt  that  his  policy  should  be  directed  towards  a 
rapprochement  with  Turkey. 

In  the  spring  an  open  rupture  occurred  between 
him  and  the  Mameluke  chieftains,  owing,  as  usual, 
to  a  question  of  the  payment  of  the  troops ;  and 
on  March  12,  1804,  Mohammed  Ali  attacked  El 
Bardisi  in  his  palace  and  drove  him  out  of 
Cairo,     The  Cairenes  and  Albanians  then  invited 


56     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

Khurshid  Pasha,  the  Turkish  Governor  of  Alex- 
andria, to  assume  the  governorship  of  their  city  ; 
but  this  personage,  wishing  to  be  secure  against 
the  domination  of  Mohammed  Ah's  troops,  intro- 
duced a  regiment  of  Moors  into  the  city,  stationing 
them  in  the  Citadel,  and  thereby  incurred  the 
Albanian's  furious  displeasure.  About  a  year 
later,  therefore,  Mohammed  Ali  persuaded  the 
Cairenes  to  depose  Khurshid  and  to  nominate 
himself  as  Governor  of  Cairo.  Khurshid  very 
naturally  refused  to  recognise  any  nomination 
not  confirmed  by  the  Sultan,  and  promptly  turned 
the  guns  of  the  Citadel  upon  Mohammed  All's 
forces  in  the  town  below.  The  energetic  Albanian 
replied  by  dragging  his  cannon  up  to  the  summit 
of  the  Mokattam  hills,  which  dominated  the 
Citadel,  and  meanwhile  he  sent  an  embassy  post- 
haste to  Constantinople  asking  for  the  official 
deposition  of  his  enemy.  The  document  arrived 
in  Cairo  on  July  9,  1805,  and  a  Turkish  force 
was  sent  to  restore  order.  Khurshid  then 
surrendered,  and  Mohammed  Ali  assumed  the 
governorship,  having  attained  to  this  exalted 
position  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-six. 

No  sooner  was  he  secured  in  his  new  office 
than  he  set  himself  to  destroy  the  power  of  the 
Mamelukes.  In  August  1805  his  agents  led  a 
large  number  of  them  into  a  prepared  ambush, 
where  they  were  all  shot  down  or  taken  prisoners 
and  executed.      The  news  of  this  treachery  was 


Mohammed  Ali  57 

conveyed  to  England  ;  and  since  the  French  were 
still  as  hostile  to  the  Mamelukes  as  they  had  been 
during  Bonaparte's  invasion,  the  English  all  the 
more  heartily  espoused  their  cause.  Mohammed 
Ali,  calling  to  mind  the  wonderful  tales  of  France 
told  to  him  by  Monsieur  Leon  at  Cavalla,  now 
began  seriously  to  enter  into  that  close  friendship 
with  the  French  people  which  lasted,  with  some 
lapses,  throughout  his  life ;  but  as  he  was  at 
this  time  once  more  the  dutiful  servant  of  the 
Sultan,  it  followed  that  France  now  supported 
Turkey,  while  England,  in  defence  of  the  Mame- 
lukes, was  estranged  from  the  Porte. 

Two  years  later,  in  1807,  a  British  force  landed 
in  Egypt  with  the  object  of  taking  possession  of 
the  country,  and  thereby  frustrating  any  possible 
alliance  between  Mohammed  Ali  and  the  French, 
which  might  have  been  dangerous  to  us.  The 
young  Albanian  soldier,  however,  was  not  thus 
to  be  crushed.  He  quickly  out-manoeuvred  our 
forces,  who  were  under  the  command  of  Generals 
Wauchope  and  Meade,  utterly  defeated  them  at 
Bosetta,  and  took  most  of  them  prisoners.  A  few 
days  later  he  rode  in  triumph  through  Cairo 
between  avenues  of  British  heads,  which  were 
stuck  upon  stakes  at  regular  intervals  along  either 
side  of  the  main  streets,  while  at  certain  points 
groups  of  British  soldiers  were  exhibited  in  chains 
to  be  reviled  and  spat  upon  by  all  the  scum  of 
the  city. 


58     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

Mohammed  AH  at  once  sent  news  of  his  triumph 
to  France,  at  the  same  time  inviting  a  number 
of  French  soldiers,  sailors,  and  engineers  to  come 
to  Egypt  to  help  him  to  organise  his  forces. 
The  invitation  was  readily  accepted,  and  by  the 
beginning  of  1809  a  formidable  fleet  had  been 
built  or  purchased,  while  sailors  and  soldiers  had 
been  drilled  according  to  European  methods.  His 
activities,  however,  were  much  hampered  by  the 
continuous  hostility  of  the  Mamelukes  ;  and  at 
length  he  obtained  definite  evidence  that  attempts 
were  to  be  made  upon  his  life.  He  therefore 
decided  to  rid  himself  once  and  for  all  of  this 
menace,  and  in  the  early  spring  of  1811  he  laid 
a  trap  for  his  enemies  as  audacious  as  it  was 
pitiless.  He  sent  an  invitation  to  every  available 
Mameluke  notable  to  attend  at  a  reception  in 
the  Citadel  on  March  1,  in  order  to  bid  farewell 
to  the  oflficers  of  an  expedition  which  was  about  to 
set  out  for  Arabia  with  the  object  of  bringing  the 
holy  cities  under  Egyptian  protection.  The  in- 
vitations were  readily  accepted,  and  on  the  fatal 
day  460  Mamelukes  rode  in  state  into  the  Citadel, 
clad  in  their  richest  robes,  wearing  their  finest 
jewels,  and  riding  their  superb  horses.  Mohammed 
Ali  received  them  graciously,  serving  them  with 
coffee,  sweetmeats,  and  pipes ;  and  when  the 
ceremonies  of  the  day  were  over  he  arranged 
that  they  should  be  formed  up  into  a  martial 
procession,   the  position   of  each   chieftain   being 


Mohammed  Ali  59 

assigned  with  punctiHous  correctness  according  to 
his  rank. 

The  glittering  cavalcade  then  rode  down  the 
hill  towards  the  gate  of  El  Azab,  the  road  here 
passing  through  a  cutting  in  the  rock,  above 
which  the  sheer  walls  of  houses  towered  up  on 
either  side ;  but  on  their  arrival  at  the  gateway 
the  doors  were  closed  in  their  face,  and  im- 
mediately a  fusilade  was  directed  upon  them 
from  the  windows  of  the  houses.  A  horrible 
scene  ensued.  The  procession  was  instantly  con- 
verted into  a  confused  mass  of  plunging  horses 
and  staggering  men,  and  these  were  presently 
transformed  into  silent  heaps  of  sprawling  slain, 
from  which  the  streams  of  blood  trickled  down 
the  hill  and  under  the  barred  doors  of  the  gateway. 
Two  or  three  of  the  chieftains,  wounded  and 
gasping,  managed  to  regain  the  higher  ground, 
but  here  they  were  cut  down  with  the  cold  steel. 
A  prince  of  the  highest  rank,  Suliman  el  Baoub, 
staggered,  bleeding,  into  the  hartm  of  Mohammed 
All's  house,  and  claimed  the  right  of  sanctuary 
which,  according  to  ancient  custom,  the  women's 
quarters  afforded ;  but  the  Albanian  had  no 
respect  for  tradition,  and  the  head  of  the  fugitive 
was  struck  from  his  body  on  the  spot.  Only  one 
man  escaped  from  the  massacre,  a  certain  chieftain 
named  Emin,  who  galloped  up  the  hill  to  a  point 
at  which  the  road  overlooked  the  precipitous  wall 
of  the  Citadel  and  here  leapt  into  space,   land- 


6o     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

ing  upon  the  rocks  some  thirty  feet  below,  his 
fall  being  broken  by  his  horse,  which  no  doubt 
was  killed  under  him. 

During  the  massacre  Mohammed  Ali  is  said  to 
have  shown  the  utmost  emotion.  He  became 
very  pale,  and  moved  restlessly  to  and  fro, 
muttering  to  himself.  When  no  more  of  his 
recent  guests  remained  to  be  murdered,  his 
Genoese  physician,  Mendrici,  came  to  convey  the 
news  to  him,  and  to  congratulate  him  upon  what 
he  was  pleased  to  describe  as  a  most  happy  aifair ; 
but  Mohammed  Ali,  grey  with  anxiety,  uttered 
no  word  except  a  peremptory  demand  for  a  cup 
of  cold  water.  Many  years  afterwards  he  declared 
that  his  sleep  at  nights  was  made  horrible  by 
the  faces  of  the  men  whom  he  had  done  to 
death  on  this  occasion  and  on  others ;  but  it  is 
a  question  whether  his  conscience  need  have 
troubled  him  unduly,  for  it  has  been  truly  said 
that  the  prosperity  of  Egypt  was  rooted  in  the 
shambles  of  the  Citadel.  Mohammed  Ali,  in  after 
years,  proved  himself  to  be  Egypt's  true  bene- 
factor, and  though  we  are  appalled  at  the  savage 
barbarity  with  which  he  rid  the  country  of  this 
crowd  of  undisciplined  ruffians,  we  must  remember 
that  he  thereby  released  the  Egyptians  from  a 
tyranny  which  nobody  in  the  world,  except 
the  very  misinformed  British  Government,  ever 
attempted  to  condone. 

Not  satisfied  with  the  massacre  at  the  Citadel, 


Mohammed  AH  6i 

Mohammed  Ah  issued  orders  that  the  remaining" 
Mamelukes  were  to  be  exterminated  throughout 
Egypt.  In  Cairo  the  slaughter  continued  for 
two  days,  at  the  end  of  which  a  general  amnesty 
was  proclaimed  in  behalf  of  the  few  terrified 
survivors ;  but  in  the  provinces  the  hunt  dragged 
on  for  many  years,  the  Mameluke  bands  being 
gradually  driven  far  into  the  Sudan. 

Mohammed  Ali  was  now  free  to  turn  his  full 
attention  to  the  welfare  of  Egypt  and  to  the 
enlarging  of  its  territories  ;  and  in  all  directions 
he  instituted  reforms  and  improvements.  He 
possessed  an  absolute  genius  for  creating  and 
maintaining  order ;  and  although  entirely  un- 
scrupulous in  regard  to  the  methods  employed 
to  attain  his  ends,  he  soon  showed  that  he  acted 
at  all  times  in  the  best  interests  of  Egypt. 
During  his  reign  crimes  of  violence  were  almost 
unknown  throughout  the  land ;  and  never  has  the 
country  been  safer  for  travellers.  There  can  be 
no  question  that  his  ideals  were,  in  a  rough  sort 
of  way,  noble,  and  his  actions  inspired  by  a 
high  ambition  for  justice,  law,  and  order ;  but 
he  knew  little  of  probity,  considerateness,  or  the 
tenets  of  fair-play.  The  number  of  bad  characters 
whom  he  hanged  without  pretence  of  trial  was 
enormous,  but  it  was  far  surpassed  by  the  host 
of  poor  men  whose  wrongs  he  righted.  He  hated 
oppression,  and  would  not  tolerate  it  amongst 
his  officials ;  and  yet  his  methods  of  dealing  with 


62     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

offenders  was  cruel  and  savage  in  the  extreme. 
It  is  related  that  once,  when  passing  through  a 
provincial  town,  a  baker  complained  to  him  of  the 
ill-usage  he  had  suffered  at  the  hands  of  the  local 
governor.  Mohammed  Ali,  having  verified  the 
man's  story,  sent  for  the  governor,  and  caused  him 
to  be  pitched  head  first  into  the  baker's  oven, 
where  he  was  slowly  roasted  to  death.  He  set 
his  face  against  all  religious  intolerance,  and, 
though  a  good  Mussulman,  he  disliked  fanaticism. 
On  one  occasion  he  hanged  on  the  spot  a  Dervish 
who,  in  a  frenzy  of  religious  zeal,  had  stabbed  a 
Christian  girl ;  and  he  always  showed  his  parti- 
ality to  intelligent  Christians.  At  times  he  must 
have  seemed  to  be  an  incarnation  of  ferocious 
righteousness,  very  terrible,  and  yet  very  will- 
ingly to  be  obeyed  and  honoured.  Occasionally 
he  was  generous  and  lenient,  as  when  he  pardoned 
and  even  rewarded  a  miserable  man  who  had 
made  a  showy  attempt  to  assassinate  him  owing 
to  an  eccentric  misanthropy  due  to  hunger  and 
distress. 

His  grizzly  beard  was  now  prematurely  turning 
white ;  his  eyes  had  sunk  deeper  into  his  head, 
but  had  lost  none  of  their  fire ;  and  his  movements 
were  still  those  of  a  muscular  soldier,  though,  from 
lack  of  manual  work,  his  hands,  which  had  always 
been  small  and  feminine,  were  grown  white  and 
delicate.  He  dressed  simply  and  without  any 
great  display.      On  his  head  he  wore  a  red  fez, 


.^iT^ 


^■ii 


MOHAMMED    ALL 


Mohammed  Ali  63 

around  which  a  fine  Cashmere  shawl  was  wound. 
His  peHsse,  in  the  winter  season,  was  Hned  with 
excellent  furs  ;  his  baggy  Turkish  trousers  were 
supported  around  the  waist  by  a  Cashmere  shawl, 
from  which  protruded  the  hilt  of  a  dagger  and 
the  butt  of  a  pistol ;  and  on  his  feet  he  wore  red 
leather  slippers,  with  upturned  toes.  A  large 
diamond  ring  upon  the  little  finger  of  his  right 
hand  was  his  only  ornament.  In  his  habits,  also, 
he  practised  a  certain  simplicity.  At  this  period 
he  ate  very  plain  food,  and  drank  nothing  but 
water.  He  did  not  waste  much  of  his  time  with 
the  women  of  his  harim,  but  preferred  to  pass  his 
leisure  hours  in  athletic  sports  or  in  the  practice 
of  horsemanship,  in  which  he  excelled.  He  slept 
little  and  was  usually  up  before  sunrise.  His 
restless  mind  was  always  scheming  for  the  ag- 
grandisement both  of  his  adopted  country  and 
of  his  own  position ;  and  with  almost  childish 
credulity  he  listened  to  every  proposal  of  indus- 
trial or  administrative  reform  which  seemed  to 
bear  the  cachet  of  European  approval.  Although 
outwardly  loyal  to  the  Porte,  he  shunned  the 
thought  that  any  man  on  earth  was  his  master. 
Once,  when  he  was  reading  a  communication  from 
the  Sultan,  he  turned  excitedly  to  an  Englishman 
who  happened  to  be  present,  and  complained  with 
bitterness  of  his  vassalage.  "  My  father  had  ten 
children,"  he  declared,  "  but  not  one  of  them  ever 
contradicted  me.      Later,  the  principal  people  in 


64     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

my  native  town  took  no  step  without  my  consent. 
I  came  to  Egypt  an  obscure  adventurer,  yet  I 
advanced  step  by  step  ;  and  now  here  I  am.  Yes, 
here  I  am,  and,"  he  added,  savagely  tapping  the 
document,  "  I  never  had  a  master  !" 

In  this  manner  he  governed  Egypt  with  as- 
tonishing abihty  and  progress  for  eleven  quiet, 
though  strenuous,  years.  In  1818  he  brought 
the  war  in  Arabia  to  a  successful  close,  restoring 
the  holy  cities  of  Islam  to  the  suzerainty  of  the 
Sultan,  from  which  they  had  seceded,  and  estab- 
lishing an  Egyptian  protective  influence  over 
them,  which,  unfortunately,  has  now  been  allowed 
to  lapse.  In  1820  he  conquered  the  Oasis  of 
Siwa,  nowadays  famous  as  a  seat  of  the  Senoussi 
sect ;  and  in  1823  he  laid  the  foundations  of 
Khartoum.  His  rising  power,  however,  began  to 
trouble  the  Sultan,  Mahmoud  II.,  who  saw  in  it 
a  menace  to  his  own  authority  in  Egypt ;  and 
England,  meanwhile,  looked  on  with  equal  dis- 
satisfaction, for  it  was  not  easy  to  forget  that 
Mohammed  Ali  had  brought  disgrace  upon  British 
arms,  and  had  treacherously  destroyed  the  Mame- 
lukes, whom  we  had  supported. 

In  1822  the  Sultan  ordered  his  vassal  to  aid 
him  against  the  Greeks,  who  were  then  fighting 
for  their  independence ;  but  Mohammed  Ali,  in- 
stead of  complying  quietly  with  the  order  as  was 
his  duty,  informed  his  sovereign  that  he  would 
expect,  as  a  reward  for  his  services,  the  governor- 


Mohammed  Ali  65 

ships  of  Crete,  Syria,  and  Damascus,  as  well  as 
that  of  Egypt.  To  this  the  Sultan  agreed,  and 
in  the  following  year  the  Egyptian  fleet  and 
expeditionary  force  were  despatched  across  the 
Mediterranean  under  the  command  of  Mohammed 
Ali's  son,  Ibrahim.  The  war  dragged  on  for  some 
years,  but  in  1827  the  Egyptian  forces  met  with 
an  unexpected  disaster.  On  October  20  of  that 
year,  their  ships  were  anchored  in  the  harbour 
of  Navarino,  and  Mohammed  Ali's  son,  Ibrahim, 
was  merrily  burning  Greek  villages  ashore,  when 
a  fleet  of  English,  French,  and  Russian  men-o'-war 
sailed  into  the  harbour  and  anchored  amongst 
them.  The  ofi&cers  of  these  three  nationalities 
now  being  united  by  their  common  interest  in 
the  Greek  revolutionaries,  sent  a  joint  demand 
to  the  Egyptians  that  they  should  cease  their 
pillaging.  The  Egyptians  made  an  evasive  reply  ; 
but  shortly  afterwards  a  scrimmage  between  the 
crews  of  an  English  and  an  Egyptian  ship  led 
to  a  general  action  at  close  quarters.  The  com- 
bined Egyptian  and  Turkish  fleet  consisted  of 
3  large  battleships,  15  frigates,  and  some  70 
smaller  craft ;  and  these  were  all  speedily  sunk 
or  captured  by  the  vastly  superior  European  force, 
whose  entire  loss  was  only  about  700  killed  and 
wounded.  Shortly  afterwards  Ibrahini  returned 
to  Egypt,  bringing  the  sad  tidings  to  Mohammed 
Ali,  who  was  naturally  filled  with  bitterness 
against    his    old    enemy,    England,    and    against 

E 


66     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

France,  who  had  assisted  him  to  build  the  very 
ships  which  now  she  had  helped  to  destroy.  With 
great  courage,  how^ever,  he  at  once  set  to  work 
to  construct  a  new  fleet ;  and  meanwhile  he  de- 
manded of  the  Sultan  the  promised  governorates. 
This  demand  was  ignored,  and  with  eager  haste 
Mohammed  Ali  prepared  to  enforce  his  rights. 
In  four  years'  time  his  preparations  were  com- 
plete, and  on  November  1,  1831,  9000  Egyptian 
infantry  and  2000  cavalry  crossed  the  frontier 
into  Syria,  where  they  effected  a  junction  at  Jaffa 
with  the  new  fleet. 

The  Sultan  was  immensely  startled  by  this  bold 
move.  He  believed  that  Mohammed  Ali,  in  col- 
lusion with  the  Sherif  of  Mecca,  intended  to  seize 
not  only  his  throne  but  also  his  office  of  Caliph  of 
Islam,  which  his  ancestor,  the  Sultan  Selim  I.,  had 
wrested  from  Egypt  in  1517.  Mohammed  Ali,  on 
his  part,  stated  that  he  was  merely  about  to  take 
possession  of  the  provinces  which  had  been  pro- 
mised to  him.  By  the  early  summer  of  1833, 
Ibrahim,  who  was  again  in  command  of  his  father's 
forces,  had  captured  Gaza,  Jerusalem,  Damascus, 
Acre,  and  Aleppo  ;  and  in  August  he  crossed  the 
mountains  into  Asia  Minor.  The  Sultan, 
thoroughly  frightened,  now  appealed  to  the 
Powers  for  aid,  and  expressed  a  wish  for  an 
alliance  with  England.  Sir  Stratford  Canning, 
who  was  at  that  time  in  Constantinople,  urged 
the  home  Government  to  make  this  alliance,  but 


Mohammed  AH  67 

Lord  Palmerston  emphatically  showed  his  con- 
viction that  the  Turk  was  neither  desirable  as  a 
friend  in  his  present  state  of  civilisation,  nor 
capable  of  regeneration. 

On  December  21  of  the  same  year,  a  new 
Turkish  force  was  utterly  defeated  by  the  Egyp- 
tians at  Konia,  and  therefore  the  distracted 
Sultan,  failing  to  enlist  the  aid  of  England,  in- 
vited Hussian  co-operation.  The  Tsar  was  not 
slow  to  seize  his  opportunity.  On  February  20, 
1834,  a  Russian  squadron  entered  the  Bosphorus, 
and  Russian  soldiers,  sailors,  diplomats,  engineers, 
and  craftsmen  were  poured  into  Constantinople. 
Very  soon  the  British  ambassador  had  to  report 
that  Turkey  appeared  to  stand  as  a  kind  of  vassal 
of  Bussia.  Only  Russians  were  admitted  to  the 
Sultan's  presence ;  only  Russian  engineers  were 
employed  in  the  new  fortifications  which  were 
being  erected  in  the  straits ;  and  only  Russian 
officers  directed  the  Turkish  troops. 

Meanwhile  Mohammed  Ali  again  protested  that 
he  was  perfectly  loyal  to  the  Sultan,  but  merely 
wished  to  take  possession  of  the  gifts  which  his 
sovereign  had  made  to  him.  Ibrahim,  at  the  head 
of  the  Egyptian  armies,  adopted  the  same  tone, 
and  when  next  he  advanced  ao-ainst  the  Turkish 
forces  he  wrote  to  the  Sultan,  politely  asking  his 
permission  to  do  so.  As  he  had  at  that  time 
some  100,000  victorious  Egyptians  behind  him, 
and  as  the  Ottoman  army  had  practically  ceased 


68     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

to  exist,  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  he  awaited 
the  answer  with  any  anxiety. 

England  and  France  were  naturally  very  dis- 
turbed at  the  Russian  incursion  into  Constan- 
tinople ;  and  they  informed  the  Sultan  that  if  he 
would  invite  the  Tsar  to  withdraw  his  forces  they 
would  themselves  guarantee  that  Mohammed  Ali 
should  be  kept  at  a  safe  distance.  This  move 
was,  on  England's  part,  quite  in  keeping  with  our 
open  dislike  of  the  great  Albanian  ;  but  in  regard 
to  France,  it  is  clear  that  the  fear  of  Kussia  had 
obscured  the  friendly  sentiments  so  often  ex- 
pressed to  the  ruler  of  Egypt.  The  Sultan  did 
not  take  much  notice  of  the  new  proposals ;  but 
French  and  English  diplomatic  pressure  having 
been  brought  to  bear  both  on  him  and  on  Mo- 
hammed Ali,  a  convention  was  signed  between 
the  belligerents  on  April  8,  1834,  by  which  it  was 
agreed  that  Mohammed  Ali  should  retain  the 
provinces  of  Syria,  Aleppo,  and  Damascus,  while 
Ibrahim  should  govern  that  of  Adana,  all,  of 
course,  under  the  Sultan's  suzerainty.  On  July  8 
the  famous  Turco-E-ussian  treaty  was  signed,  by 
which  Russia  came  practically  into  control  of  the 
entrance  to  the  Black  Sea. 

Shortly  after  this  the  inhabitants  of  Syria 
revolted  against  Mohammed  Ali's  stern  and  cap- 
able rule,  and  the  Sultan  immediately  gave  the 
revolutionaries  his  moral  support.  Thereupon  he 
declared   himself  independent    of  the  Porte  and 


Mohammed  Ali  69 

ceased  to  pay  the  annual  tribute,  although  he 
realised  well  enough  that  the  Powers  would  not 
support  his  action.  "  If  I  am  crushed  by  the 
Powers  of  Europe,"  he  declared,  "  I  shall  fall 
gloriously.  I  rose  from  nothing :  to  nothing  I 
shall  return ;  and  as  I  rose  by  the  sword,  so  shall 
I  fall  by  the  sword."  England  and  France  con- 
tinued to  do  their  best  to  preserve  peace,  so  that 
Bussia  should  no  longer  have  an  excuse  for  re- 
maining in  Constantinople ;  and  at  the  same  time 
they  encouraged  Prussia  and  Austria  to  show 
interest  in  Turkish  affairs.  The  result  was  that 
Russian  prestige  declined,  and  soon  the  Prussians 
had  become  the  Sultan's  teachers  in  all  military 
matters.  A  large  number  of  German  officers  un- 
der von  Moltke  were  commissioned  to  train  the 
Turkish  troops ;  but  Mohammed  Ali,  with  the  aid 
of  French  officers  under  Colonel  Seve,  worked 
ceaselessly  upon  the  drilling  of  his  Egyptian  army, 
and  was  all  the  more  determined  to  break  the 
Sultan's  power. 

During  all  these  years  of  warfare  and  diplomatic 
struggles  Mohammed  Ali  had  been  regarded  in 
Europe  as  the  rising  star  of  the  Orient.  It  was 
expected  that  he  would  reorganise  the  entire  Near 
East,  and  would  bring  law  and  order  into  the 
most  backward  districts  of  the  Turkish  Empire. 
His  reforms  in  Egypt  were  watched  with  the 
keenest  interest ;  and  many  sentimentalists  in 
England,    unconscious   of    his    terrible   greatness, 


70     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

sent  him  patronising  httle  letters  of  approval. 
Political  philosophers,  such  as  Jeremy  Bentham, 
posted  reams  of  good  advice  to  him ;  and  one 
may  imagine  the  sardonic  expression  on  the  face 
of  the  splendid  old  Lion  as  these  were  read  to  him. 
For,  let  it  be  understood,  Mohammed  Ali  was 
actually  very  far  removed  from  the  polite  ideal  of 
greatness.  He  was  a  born  intriguer,  who  as 
heartily  enjoyed  the  great  diplomatic  and  political 
struggles  of  his  reign  as  he  did  his  military 
campaigns  and  his  administrative  activities.  He 
had  no  regard  whatsoever  for  human  life ;  and 
all  that  may  be  said  in  his  favour  in  this  respect 
is,  that  he  generally  slaughtered  his  enemies  in 
public  and  not  by  secret  methods.  The  sudden 
death  of  his  son  Tusun  is  said  to  have  been  due  to 
poison  administered  by  Mohammed  Ali ;  but  there 
is  no  proof  of  the  crime.  On  more  than  one 
occasion  he  threatened  to  kill  his  son  Ibrahim  for 
insubordination,  and  he  was  only  prevented  from 
dealing  in  a  like  manner  with  his  daughter,  Nazli 
Hanum,  whose  profligacy  had  offended  him,  by 
the  intervention  of  his  nephew  Abbas.  On  one 
occasion  it  was  reported  to  him  that  there  had 
been  some  mutinous  talk  in  the  bazaars,  and, 
desiring  to  check  this  as  speedily  as  possible,  he 
sent  orders  to  the  head  of  the  police  to  hang  forty 
of  the  worst  criminals  in  the  city,  whether  or  not 
they  were  in  this  case  the  guilty  persons.  "I 
have  no  doubt,"  he  said,  "  that  the  victims  have 


Mohammed  Ali  71 

spoken,  or  might  have  spoken,  seditiously ;  and 
anyhow  they  are  a  good  riddance,  and  their  death 
will  put  an  end  to  the  sedition  of  the  real 
offenders."  Any  form  of  laziness  was  abhorrent 
to  him,  and  during  these  years  he  kept  his 
officials  working  at  high  pressure.  Once,  when 
he  was  arranging  for  the  cutting  of  a  new  canal 
in  Lower  Egypt,  he  asked  the  local  engineer  what 
was  the  shortest  time  in  which  that  section  of  the 
channel  could  be  cut.  The  man,  having  made 
some  rapid  calculations,  stated  that  the  work 
could  be  done  in  one  year.  Mohammed  Ali 
calmly  turned  to  his  servants,  and  ordered  them 
to  administer  two  hundred  blows  with  a  stick  on 
the  soles  of  the  engineer's  feet.  This  being  done, 
he  told  the  fainting  wretch  that  he  would  return 
in  four  months'  time,  and  that,  if  the  canal  were 
not  then  finished,  another  two  hundred  blows 
would  be  administered.  Needless  to  say  the  work 
was  completed  long  before  the  four  months  had 
passed. 

Even  after  he  had  attained  to  a  ripe  old  age 
Mohammed  Ali  did  not  lose  the  habit  of  walking 
to  and  fro  when  in  thought  or  while  conversing, 
his  small  hands  clasped  nervously  behind  his  back, 
and  his  brows  knitted  together.  He  generally 
talked  to  himself  when  alone,  and  sometimes  would 
break  into  violent  tirades  against  the  Sultan  or 
his  other  particular  enemies.  His  sleep  was 
always  brief  and  disturbed,  and  he  could  not  ever 


72     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

lie  comfortably  abed.  Although  his  sleeping 
apartment  was  furnished  with  a  magnificent  four- 
poster  in  the  European  style,  he  liked  not  a  soft 
mattress,  and  invariably  stretched  himself  on  the 
hard  floor  beside  it,  upon  a  small  strip  of  carpet. 

The  industrial  experiments  which  were  carried 
out  in  Egypt  at  this  time  were  not  entirely 
successful.  Mohammed  Ali's  ideas  were  always 
very  grand  and  imposing,  but  often  they  were 
entirely  impracticable.  His  attempts  to  grow 
cotton  and  sugar,  now  the  main  products  of  the 
country,  were  a  complete  failure  ;  and  the  elaborate 
silk  looms  which  he  set  up  were  soon  abandoned. 
He  purchased  every  new  mechanical  device  which 
was  brought  to  his  notice,  and  after  his  death  an 
English  engineer,  who  visited  his  workshops  at 
Boulak,  estimated  that  a  million  and  a  quarter 
pounds  worth  of  machinery  there  lay  rusting  and 
unused.  He  was  the  ready  victim  of  all  cranks 
and  unscrupulous  inventors ;  and  when  any  new 
industrial  concern  which  had  had  his  approval 
came  to  inevitable  bankruptcy,  he  paid  its  debts 
out  of  the  public  funds.  On  one  occasion  he  asked 
an  Englishman  to  purchase  him  a  steamer  which 
was  to  ply  on  the  Nile  above  the  cataracts.  The 
Englishman  answered  that  such  a  scheme  was 
absurd,  for  in  those  regions  no  fuel  could  be 
obtained,  nor  were  there  any  passengers  or  cargoes 
to  be  carried  ;  and  moreover,  the  initial  cost  would 
be  £5000  at  least.    Mohammed  Ali  turned  furiously 


Mohammed  Ali  73 

upon  him,  and  exclaimed,  "  Pray,  sir,  what  the 
devil  is  it  to  you  if  it  costs  me  a  million  ? "  Yet 
with  all  these  faults  there  was  a  rugged  magni- 
ficence and  strength  in  his  character,  which, 
combined  with  the  charm  of  his  manners  to  his 
friends  and  to  foreigners,  caused  him  to  be  much 
reverenced  and  beloved.  His  conversation  is  said 
to  have  been  gay  and  animated,  and  his  politeness 
exquisite.  Thus,  on  one  occasion  when  a  chair 
had  not  been  provided  for  one  of  the  foreign 
diplomats  to  whom  he  was  giving  audience,  he 
refused  to  be  seated  himself  until  this  had  been 
supplied. 

The  five  years  between  1834  and  1839  passed  in 
superficial  quietude,  while  urgent  preparations 
were  being  made  both  in  Egypt  and  in  Turkey  for 
a  decisive  trial  of  strength.  The  Sultan,  with  his 
German  officers,  was  the  first  to  consider  himself 
ready  for  the  fray;  and  in  April  1839  his  army 
crossed  the  frontier  into  Syria,  with  the  uncon- 
cealed purpose  of  chastising  Mohammed  Ali  for  his 
insubordination,  and  regaining  control  of  Syria 
and  Egypt.  The  Egyptian  army,  with  its  French 
officers,  again  under  the  command  of  Ibrahim,  met 
the  Turks  at  Nezib  on  June  23,  and  annihilated 
them.  A  week  later  the  Sultan  died,  and  was 
succeeded  by  Abdul  -  Mejid,  a  boy  of  sixteen. 
Ahmed  Pasha,  the  Turkish  admiral,  now  went 
over  to  the  Egyptians  with  his  entire  fleet,  and 
the   Ottoman  Grand  Vizir  wrote    to   Mohammed 


74     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

Ali,  offering  him  the  hereditary  governorship  of 
Egypt,  and  his  son  Ibrahim  the  governorship 
of  Syria,  and  all  manner  of  honours,  if  he  \yould 
but  make  peace.  Mohammed  Ali,  however,  now 
felt  that  he  had  fairly  beaten  the  Porte,  and  he 
knew  that,  if  the  Powers  but  allowed  him,  he 
could  become  supreme  master  of  the  Turkish 
Empire.  He  therefore  sent  an  evasive  answer 
to  the  Grand  Vizir,  and  anxiously  awaited  to  see 
what  Europe  would  do. 

The  Powers,  however,  were  in  a  hopeless  mud- 
dle. France  wanted  Russia  to  leave  Constanti- 
nople, but,  on  the  other  hand,  wished  Mohammed 
Ali  to  retain  the  provinces  which  he  and  his  son 
had  conquered  with  such  military  skill  and  per- 
severance. Austria  and  Prussia  both  favoured 
the  Turkish  point  of  view  in  regard  to  Mohammed 
Ali,  but  mistrusted  Russia,  and  were  determined 
to  oppose  her  in  all  Near  Eastern  affairs.  Eng- 
land was,  as  always,  hostile  to  Mohammed  Ali,  and 
believed  that  there  would  be  no  peace  until  he 
was  forced  back  into  Egypt ;  and  in  this  attitude 
we  came  into  serious  conflict  with  France.  Russia 
then  made  a  most  praiseworthy  and  generous 
move.  The  Tsar  informed  the  Powers  that  if 
only  they  would  hold  a  conference  and  assume  a 
united  front,  as  it  were  for  the  honour  of  Christen- 
dom, he  would  be  prepared  to  give  up  his  rights 
according  to  the  Turko-Russian  Treaty  mentioned 
above,  to  close  the  Dardanelles  to  warships  of  all 


Mohammed  Ali  75 

nations,  and  to  retire  from  Constantinople.  Lord 
Palmerston  stated  in  reply  that  he  had  received 
the  proposal  "  with  surprise  and  admiration,"  and 
steps  were  at  once  taken  with  a  view  to  joint 
action.  France,  however,  was  the  stumbling-block. 
Nothing  would  induce  her  to  agree  to  any  meas- 
ure depriving  Mohammed  Ali  of  the  fruits  of  his 
conquests ;  and  at  last,  abandoning  the  other 
Powers,  she  opened  private  negotiations  with 
Egypt  with  a  view  to  an  alliance.  As  a  result 
of  this,  the  European  concert  deliberately  left 
France  out  of  its  consultations ;  and  when,  on 
July  15,  1840,  a  convention  was  signed  with 
Turkey,  French  opinion  was  not  invited.  This 
convention  took  the  form  of  an  ultimatum  to 
Mohammed  Ali.  It  stated  that  if  he  would  make 
peace  within  ten  days  he  should  be  made  heredi- 
tary Pasha  of  Egypt  and  life-governor  of  Syria. 
If  he  had  not  accepted  these  terms  within  the 
time-limit,  the  offer  of  the  governorship  of  Syria 
would  be  withdrawn ;  and  at  the  end  of  another 
ten  days  the  offer  in  regard  to  Egypt  would  also 
be  withdrawn.  When  these  terms  became  known 
in  Paris  a  wave  of  fury  swept  over  the  French 
people.  The  brave  Mohammed  Ali,  who  had 
raised  Egypt  from  the  depths  of  misery,  and  had 
conquered  the  Turks  in  fair  fight,  was  now  to 
be  peremptorily  ordered  about  by  the  European 
Powers,  whose  only  wish  was  to  maintain  the 
status  quo  lest  they  should  fall  out  amongst  them- 


76     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

selves.  Was  this  fair-play,  they  asked? — was 
this  chivalry  ?  The  attitude  of  the  Powers,  how- 
ever, was  based  on  the  recognition  of  the  fact 
that  Mohammed  Ali  was,  in  spite  of  his  splendid 
qualities,  simply  a  rebellious  provincial  governor 
in  revolt  against  his  sovereign.  France,  however, 
reasoned  in  more  romantic  fashion,  and  the  nation 
clamoured  for  war. 

Meanwhile  the  British,  Austrian,  and  Russian 
fleets  appeared  off  Beirout,  on  the  Syrian  coast, 
to  enforce  the  terms  of  the  ultimatum  upon  the 
Egyptian  garrisons  ;  and  their  arrival  was  a  signal 
for  a  second  Syrian  revolt.  Ibrahim  could  not 
withstand  the  combined  attacks  of  the  three 
Powers,  the  "  rebels,"  and  the  Turks ;  and,  when 
Beirout  and  Acre  had  fallen  to  the  guns  of  the 
fleet,  he  „was  obliged  to  retire  to  Egypt,  and  Syria 
was  lost  to  Mohammed  Ali.  On  September  15, 
1840,  the  old  man  was  deposed  by  the  Sultan  ; 
but  when  this  decree  was  read  to  him  he  replied 
with  a  sad  smile  that  it  signified  little,  since  this 
was  the  fourth  occasion  on  which  he  had  been 
deposed,  and  he  hoped  to  get  over  it  as  he  had 
over  the  others.  What  confidence  he  had  was 
due  to  his  belief  in  the  support  of  France ;  but  in 
this  he  was  soon  to  be  disappointed. 

On  October  8,  France  presented  a  note  to  Eng- 
land demanding  the  reinstatement  of  Mohammed 
Ali ;  and  to  this  the  British  Government  replied 
in  as  conciliatory  a  manner  as  possible.     But  while 


Mohammed  Ali  77 

the  diplomatic  negotiations  were  still  in  progress 
the  British  Fleet  arrived  at  Alexandria,  and  Sir 
Charles  Napier,  pointing  out  that  France  was  not 
in  a  position  to  go  to  war,  managed  to  persuade 
the  tired  and  disappointed  Mohammed  Ali  to  come 
to  terms  with  the  Sultan.  On  January  30,  1841, 
a  treaty  was  signed,  by  the  terms  of  which  Mo- 
hammed Ali  became  hereditary  Pasha  of  Egypt 
and  Governor  of  the  Sudan,  undertaking  to 
reduce  his  army  to  18,000  and  to  pay  an  annual 
tribute  to  Turkey  of  £412,000;  and  when  this 
settlement  was  reported  in  Paris  the  French  Gov- 
ernment abandoned  its  chivalrous  championship 
of  Egypt,  and  a  European  war  was  averted.  The 
arrangement,  however,  broke  the  aged  man's  heart, 
and  a  few  years  later  a  stroke  affected  his  brain. 
The  government  was  taken  over  by  Ibrahim,  who, 
however,  died  in  November  1848,  thus  completing 
the  sorrows  of  his  stern  but  affectionate  father. 
A  profound  gloom  fell  upon  the  old  Lion  of  the 
Levant,  now  nearly  eighty  years  of  age.  For 
hours  he  would  sit  staring  in  front  of  him,  until 
suddenly  the  sound  of  the  midday  gun,  or  the 
neighing  of  a  horse,  would  arouse  him  and  set  him 
pacing  to  and  fro.  At  other  times,  with  eyes 
ablaze,  he  would  tell  those  around  him  that  his 
agents  had  discovered  mines  where  gold  and 
precious  stones  lay  as  thick  as  the  gravel,  or  that 
his  armies  had  conquered  the  world  and  his  ships 
had    scoured   the   uttermost   seas.     His   thoughts 


yS     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

were  all  of  the  greatness  of  Egypt  and  the 
supremacy  of  his  throne,  for  a  kindly  providence 
had  obliterated  from  his  mind  the  disappoint- 
ments of  his  life;  and  when,  on  August  2,  1849, 
he  breathed  his  last,  he  no  longer  remembered 
that  he  was  leaving  Egypt  as  he  had  found  it,  a 
vassal  of  the  Porte,  only  infinitely  richer,  happier, 
and  more  to  be  coveted  by  the  rapacious  Turks. 


79 


CHAPTER  III. 


ISMAIL   PASHA. 


The  name  of  Ismail  Pasha,  the  prodigal  Khedive 
of  Egypt,  whose  most  praiseworthy  son  is  now 
Sultan  of  that  country,  is  still  so  well  remembered 
by  the  reading  public  that  little  introduction  is 
necessary.  It  was  he  who  brought  Egypt  into 
close  touch  with  Europe,  and  attempted  to  make 
of  his  capital  city  of  Cairo  a  little  Paris  of  the 
East ;  it  was  he  who  as  host  so  lavishly  enter- 
tained the  Emperor  of  Austria  and  the  Empress 
of  France,  together  with  several  other  important 
royal  personages,  at  the  historic  opening  of  the 
Suez  Canal ;  and  it  was  he  who,  having  run  into 
debt  at  the  rate  of  some  seven  million  pounds  a 
year,  was  forced  to  place  the  finances  of  Egypt 
in  the  hands  of  European  controllers,  and  at  length 
was  deposed  from  his  throne.  His  reign  marks  an 
epoch  in  the  history  of  Egypt  which,  in  view  of 
the  present  situation,  it  is  very  desirable  to  recall 
to  mind.  The  technical  relationship  of  Egypt  to 
the  Porte  was  formulated  by  Ismail ;  and  though 


8o     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

the  British  advent  in  1882  introduced  superficially 
a  new  state  of  affairs,  the  diplomatic  arrangements 
made  by  him  still  held  good  at  the  beginning  of 
the  great  European  war  in  1914.  Indeed,  had  it 
not  been  for  Ismail's  peculiar  financial  methods 
and  their  consequences,  England  would  never  have 
occupied  the  Nile  Valley,  and  the  British  Pro- 
tectorate over  Egypt  would  not  have  been 
dreamed  of. 

The  grandson  of  that  fine  old  warrior,  Mohammed 
Ali,  Ismail  inherited  from  his  forebears  much  of  the 
fire,  and  not  a  little  of  the  untamable  spirit,  of  his 
Albanian  family ;  and  the  reckless  use  which  he 
made  of  his  power,  the  wholesale  squandering  of 
public  money  in  which  he  indulged,  assumes,  by 
reason  of  his  inspiring  and  charming  personality, 
a  romantic  quality  which  cannot  fail  to  be  stim- 
ulating to  the  imagination  on  first  thoughts.  It 
is  indisputable  that  this  extraordinary  potentate 
makes  his  appeal  to  the  student  as  one  of  the 
great  histrionic  figures  of  the  past,  whose  per- 
sonality seems  to  demand  a  sympathetic  and 
favourable  interpretation ;  and  yet  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that,  viewed  from  a  moral  or  ethical 
standpoint,  his  character  is  highly  reprehensible 
and  his  actions  generally  culpable.  So  great  is 
the  public  affection  for  brilliantly  staged  drama 
that  the  ordinary  student  of  Egyptian  affairs  is 
almost  invariably  impressed  in  the  first  instance 
by  the  imposing  glamour  of  Ismail's  reign  and  the 


Ismail  Pasha  8i 

romantic  qualities  of  his  character ;  but  it  ought 
not  to  be  forgotten  that  the  enchantment  of  the 
scenes  in  which  he  played  was  created  by  the 
sullen  labour  and  the  bitter  agony  of  the  majority 
of  his  people,  and  that  the  splendid  illumination  of 
the  court  at  Cairo  was  paid  for,  and  still  is  being 
paid  for,  by  those  who  daily  have  fretted  in  the 
darkness  outside. 

Ismail's  appearance  was  not  an  asset  in  his 
favour,  nor  was  there  any  suggestion  of  the  un- 
substantial pageant  in  his  figure  and  bearing.  He 
was  short,  fat,  and  ungainly ;  and  his  walk  sug- 
gested that  of  a  performing  bear.  While  giving 
audiences  he  was  wont  to  roam  about  the  room, 
rolling  from  side  to  side  like  a  sailor  at  sea  ;  or, 
when  tired  of  such  ambulations,  he  would  waddle 
to  a  divan  and  there  sit  nursing  his  legs,  which 
were  crossed  in  Turkish  fashion,  and  playing  with 
his  toes.  There  appeared  to  be  no  dignity  in  his 
carriage,  but  rather  a  comicality ;  and  although 
friends  who  knew  him  well  observed,  after  a 
while,  a  certain  stateliness  of  demeanour  which 
it  was  not  easy  to  define,  those  who  saw  him 
for  the  first  time  could  with  difficulty  refrain 
from  smiling.  His  face  was  peculiarly  ugly.  His 
ears  were  large  and  thick,  and  of  a  form  different 
from  those  of  ordinary  men.  His  tangled  red 
eyebrows  screened  two  eyes  which  had  no  re- 
semblance one  to  the  other,  nor  acted  in  unison. 
The  left  eyelid  drooped,  and  while  his  mind  was 

F 


82     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

engaged  in  thought  the  eye  became  almost  closed, 
but  at  the  same  time  his  right  orbit  wandered  or 
shifted  without  cessation ;  and  thus  it  came  to 
be  said  of  him  that  he  heard  with  one  eye  and 
spoke  with  the  other.  His  red  beard  grew  in 
an  unkempt  condition,  while  his  hair  protruded 
around  the  ears  from  below  a  crimson  fez,  which 
was  worn  low  on  one  side  of  his  head,  as  though 
some  sizes  too  large  for  him.  His  hands  were 
clumsy  and  ill-shaped,  and  had  the  twisted  stiff- 
ness of  those  of  a  Guy  Fawkes ;  and  when  he 
was  about  to  speak  his  head  was  jerked  to  one 
side  in  the  manner  of  an  automaton.  He  wore 
usually  a  frock-coat  cut  out  in  the  clerical  style, 
made  of  some  shiny  black  material ;  and  his  feet 
were  hidden  by  large  elastic-sided  black  boots. 

He  made  up  by  the  charm  of  his  manner,  how- 
ever, all  that  he  lost  by  the  grotesqueness  of  his 
appearance.  His  personality  was  fascinating  in 
an  extraordinary  degree ;  and,  by  reason  of  his 
adaptability,  he  was  able  to  couch  his  remarks 
in  the  manner  most  suited  to  his  hearers.  To 
an  Englishman  he  spoke  shortly,  concisely,  and 
frankly ;  to  a  Frenchman  his  words  were  well 
chosen  and  his  thoughts  delicately  and  diplo- 
matically expressed ;  to  a  German  he  showed 
his  mastery  of  detail.  He  was  gifted  with  the 
keenest  insight ;  and  his  impressions  being  always 
rapidly  formed,  he  was  able  to  decide  on  the 
instant   the   tone  which    he   should   adopt.      His 


ISMAIL    PASHA. 


Ismail  Pasha  83 

savoir  faire  was  the  wonder  of  all  those  who 
came  into  contact  with  him,  and  his  superficiality 
was  seldom  detected.  He  persuaded  even  his  most 
angered  opponents  that  his  intentions  were  sin- 
cere, and  those  who  entered  his  palace  with  black 
murder  in  their  hearts  left  it  cooing  and  purring 
like  contented  animals.  His  personal  magnetism 
was  such  that  not  even  experienced  diplomatists 
could  resist  the  appeal  of  his  words  ;  and  although 
they  might,  in  the  seclusion  of  their  offices,  write 
disparaging  reports  of  him  to  their  Governments, 
they  seldom  held  to  their  adverse  opinions  while 
in  his  presence.  His  powers  of  flattery  were  also 
highly  developed,  and  he  was  able  to  make  the 
person  to  whom  he  was  speaking  feel  that  he  was 
his  Highness's  particular  confidant.  His  memory 
was  extraordinary,  and  he  seldom  failed  to  delight 
his  auditor  by  calling  to  mind  the  details  of  past 
conversations.  The  expression  of  his  face  was 
alluringly  happy,  and  his  manner  was  almost 
invariably  good-humoured.  He  enjoyed  cracking 
a  joke  with  his  intimates  or  telling  a  comic  story  ; 
and  there  was  seldom  any  spite  to  be  detected  in 
the  anecdotes  which  he  delighted  to  relate  at  the 
expense  of  the  members  of  his  entourage.  He 
presided  at  his  daily  meals  with  great  geniality, 
charming  his  European  guests,  and  even  succeed- 
ing in  the  difficult  task  of  setting  his  Egyptian 
associates  at  their  ease  as  they  smacked  their  lips 
around  his  lavish  table.     He  had  spent  some  time 


84     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

in  France,  and  spoke  French  fluently — that,  in- 
deed, being  his  favourite  tongue  ;  and  his  manners 
were  to  be  distinguished  as  French  rather  than  as 
Turkish  or  Egyptian.  Although  a  Mohammedan, 
he  did  not  observe  the  Moslem  fasts  nor  limit  his 
diet  according  to  the  dictates  of  the  Koran.  He 
ate  ham  with  relish,  and  enjoyed  without  disguise 
his  bottle  of  Sauterne  or  Fenve  Clicquot ;  and  if  by 
such  indulgences  he  caused  misgivings  amongst  the 
stricter  members  of  his  court,  he  strengthened 
thereby  the  ties  of  good-fellowship  which  existed 
between  him  and  his  European  friends  and  officials. 
His  prodigal  hospitality,  and  his  open  and  court- 
eous manner,  won  the  hearts  of  those  around  him  ; 
and  very  rapidly  his  extraordinary  appearance 
and  awkward  movements  were  forgotten  under 
the  spell  of  his  captivating  personality. 

Mohammed  Ali  was  succeeded  at  his  death  by 
his  nephew  Abbas,  who  died  five  years  later, 
leaving  the  Viceregal  throne  to  Said,  who  occu- 
pied it  for  nine  somewhat  uneventful  years. 
Ismail  Pasha  was  born  in  1830,  and  was  educated 
for  a  time  in  Paris.  On  the  death  of  Said  he  came 
to  the  throne  in  1863,  under  somewhat  suspicious 
circumstances.  Until  a  few  years  before  his  acces- 
sion his  elder  half-brother,  Ahmed,  had  been  the 
heir-apparent ;  but  this  prince  was  removed  from 
Ismail's  path  by  an  accident,  which  some  have 
declared,  without  any  real  proof,  to  have  been 
designed  by  the  younger  claimant.     Ahmed  and 


Ismail  Pasha  85 

Ismail  had  both  been  invited  to  a  fete,  which 
was  held  at  Alexandria,  and  to  which  they  were 
to  proceed  by  train  from  Cairo.  Ismail  declined 
to  attend  the  function,  and  Ahmed  therefore 
travelled  down  alone  with  his  suite.  On  the 
return  journey  the  royal  train,  while  crossing 
the  Nile,  was  precipitated  into  the  water  under 
very  surprising  circumstances,  and  Ahmed  and 
some  twenty  members  of  his  entourage  were 
drowned.  Ismail,  being  thus  left  heir  to  the 
throne,  was  given  some  share  of  the  Government, 
and  acted  as  Begent  in  1861  during  the  absence 
of  the  reigning  prince.  During  the  same  year  he 
was  placed  in  command  of  an  expedition  to  Nubia, 
which  successfully  accomplished  its  task  of  sub- 
duing the  rebellious  tribes  of  those  regions.  At 
another  time  he  was  sent  on  diplomatic  missions 
to  Rome  and  Paris ;  and  thus  he  had  already 
gathered  considerable  experience  in  public  affairs 
when  he  succeeded  at  the  age  of  thirty-three. 
High  hopes  were  entertained  of  his  abilities ;  for 
as  a  young  man  he  had  shown  some  promise  of 
developing  into  a  conscientious  and  statesmanlike 
ruler.  He,  who  afterwards  proved  to  be  the 
wildest  spendthrift  of  his  age,  was  at  that  time 
noted  for  his  economy  in  the  management  of  his 
estates ;  and  many  were  the  stories  told  of  his 
thrift  and  his  habit  of  counting  the  piastres.  At 
his  accession  his  first  public  speech  dealt  feelingly 
with  the  need  of  sound  economy  in  the  finances 


86     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

of  the  country,  and  he  then  declared  that  he  would 
teach  a  practical  lesson  on  this  subject  to  all  by  at 
once  cutting  down  his  Civil  List  to  a  minimum 
sum,  which  he  promised  never  to  exceed.  In  the 
face  of  these  declarations,  therefore,  it  is  startling 
to  find  that  already,  in  1864,  a  year  after  his 
accession,  he  had  spent  every  penny  in  his  treasury 
and  was  obliged  to  borrow  nearly  six  million  pounds 
at  a  ruinous  rate  of  interest.  The  loan  was 
floated  by  Messrs  Fruhling  and  Goschen,  and  was 
nominally  for  £5,704,000,  but  Ismail  only  realised 
£4,864,000  after  the  fees  had  been  paid. 

The  first  cause  of  his  financial  difficulties  was 
his  inordinate  ambition,  which  led  him  to  pay  a 
visit  to  Constantinople  in  order  to  obtain  from  his 
overlord,  the  Sultan,  a  greater  recognition  of  his 
dignity.  At  that  time  the  rulers  of  Egypt  were 
simple  Viceroys  for  the  Porte,  and  Ismail's  rank 
was  actually  no  higher  than  that  of  the  Vali  of 
Smyrna,  Baghdad,  or  any  other  Turkish  Province. 
He  was  keenly  anxious  to  be  recognised  as  a 
powerful  vassal  sovereign,  and  it  was  this  desire 
that  took  him  post-haste  to  the  Bosphorus  as  soon 
as  he  had  succeeded  to  the  Viceregal  Throne. 
But  by  the  Porte  his  visit  was  regarded  as  purely 
ceremonial  and  deferential,  and  the  Sultan,  Abd'el 
Aziz,  M'^as  duly  patronising  to  him.  This  attitude 
gave  considerable  annoyance  to  Ismail,  who  en- 
deavoured at  once  to  prove  to  the  Porte  by  lavish 
expenditure  how  wealthy  and  puissant  a  vassal  he 


Ismail  Pasha  87 

was.  He  had  journeyed  across  the  Mediterranean 
to  Constantinople  in  his  private  yacht,  which  had 
been  built  at  a  cost  of  £150,000;  and  now,  in 
his  anxiety  to  create  the  desired  impression,  he 
casually  made  a  gift  of  the  vessel  to  the  Sultan, 
adding  thereto  a  large  sum  in  gold.  He  gave 
huge  sums  of  money  also  to  the  court  officials, 
the  Chamberlain  alone  receiving  a  present  of 
£15,000,  which,  as  a  gratuity  for  the  attentions 
of  a  few  days,  may  be  regarded  as  somewhat 
excessive !  The  Sultan,  as  a  man  of  business,  was 
delighted  with  Ismail's  free  and  liberal  manners  ; 
and,  desiring  that  so  profitable  a  communion 
should  not  terminate,  he  made  arrangements  for 
a  return  visit  to  Cairo,  which  was  accomplished 
six  weeks  later.  This  was  Ismail's  chance  to 
create  a  lasting  impression,  and  he  threw  himself 
into  the  task  with  enthusiasm.  Abd'el  Aziz  had 
never  in  his  life  before  enjoyed  so  lavish  an  enter- 
tainment. For  ten  days  he  was  feted  in  the  most 
splendid  manner,  and  banquets  which  outshone 
those  of  Lucullus  were  held  each  night  in  his 
honour.  Moreover,  he  received  from  his  vassal 
a  personal  present  of  £100,000;  his  suite  received 
£20,000;  and  a  further  £15,000  was  distributed 
amongst  the  officers  and  crews  of  the  imperial 
squadron.  It  does  not  seem  to  have  occurred 
to  the  Sultan,  however,  that  the  Prince  desired 
some  return  for  this  expenditure,  in  the  form  of 
an  increase  of  power ;    and  when   he  went   back, 


88     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

replete,  to  Constantinople  he  left  his  Egyptian 
host  still  in  the  comparatively  humble  position 
of  Viceroy  of  his  Province  of  Egypt. 

Ismail,  however,  held  a  very  different  estimate 
of  his  own  importance  ;  and  after  such  a  gay  series 
of  royal  festivities  in  the  company  of  the  Turkish 
monarch,  he  felt  that  he  himself  was  virtually  a 
sovereign  ruler,  and  the  cousin  of  the  kings  of  the 
world.  From  the  day  of  his  accession  he  worked 
untiringly  to  make  himself  the  most  mighty  ruler 
outside  of  Europe,  and  it  was  his  constant  hope  to 
extend  his  power  northwards,  ultimately  succeeding 
the  Sultan,  whose  fall  he  anticipated,  as  ruler  of 
the  Faithful  and  lord  of  the  Eastern  Mediterranean. 
Already  he  saw  himself  master  of  a  new  Egypto- 
Turkish  Empire,  and  his  powerful  imagination  led 
him  to  picture  himself  one  day  the  absolute  equal 
of  the  greatest  European  sovereigns.  This  attitude 
of  mind  was  strengthened  by  the  deference  paid  to 
him  by  France  and  England,  and  the  manner  in 
which  both  countries  sought  to  establish  intimate 
relations  with  him.  With  the  Emperor  Napoleon 
he  was  on  excellent  terms,  and  he  even  went  so 
far  as  to  send — like  a  patronising  ally — 1200 
Nubian  troops  to  help  the  French  in  their  ill-fated 
Mexican  campaign  in  1863,  of  which  number,  it 
may  be  mentioned,  only  300,  sick  and  wounded, 
ever  returned  to  Egpyt ;  nor  was  it  long  before  he 
received  at  the  hands  of  a  deferential  embassy  of 
English  noblemen  the  Grand  Cross  of  the  Bath 


Ismail  Pasha  89 

and  the  Grand  Cross  of  the  Star  of  India,  pre- 
sented to  him  by  Queen  Victoria  and  her  Govern- 
ment as  a  mark  of  respect. 

When,  therefore,  Ismail  paid  his  next  visit  to 
Constantinople,  he  went  in  even  greater  pomp 
than  on  the  previous  occasion.  He  took  with  him 
his  hartm,  a  large  personal  suite,  a  menagerie  of 
Sudanese  animals,  a  number  of  Arab  horses,  and  a 
huge  amount  of  furniture  and  baggage.  He  gave 
splendid  presents  to  all  the  court  officials,  and  to 
the  Sultan  he  is  said  to  have  given  the  sum  of 
£300,000  as  a  slight  token  of  his  affection  and 
regard.  He  bought  the  interest  of  almost  every 
newspaper  in  Constantinople,  and  by  means  of 
these  lavish  bribes  he  obtained  from  the  Sultan 
a  decree  which  arranged  that  the  Viceregal  throne 
of  Egypt  should  pass  from  father  to  son  in  his 
family  for  ever.  Previous  to  this  the  descent  had 
followed  the  usual  Mohammedan  order,  passing 
always  to  the  eldest  member  of  the  entire  reigning 
family — a  system,  by  the  way,  which  has  been 
accidentally  reverted  to  in  the  appointment  of 
Hussein  Kamel,  the  present  Sultan,  who  is  the 
eldest  surviving  descendant  of  Mohammed  Ali. 
At  the  same  time  Ismail  undertook  to  pay 
£300,000  more  tribute  each  year  to  the  Porte. 

Keturning  to  Cairo,  he  felt  it  incumbent  upon 
him  to  reign  nominally  as  a  constitutional  ruler ; 
and  he  therefore  established  a  Grand  Council, 
which  was  intended  to  act  as  a  kind  of  parlia- 


90     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

ment.  It  was  inaugurated  in  the  most  solemn 
and  approved  manner,  the  name  of  the  Almighty 
being  most  reverently  invoked ;  but  the  experi- 
ment was  a  signal  failure,  owing  to  the  fact  that 
no  delegate  would  oppose  the  Government  or 
argue  with  Ismail's  Ministers.  "  God  forbid,"  said 
each  Councillor,  "  that  I  should  think  of  question- 
ing the  fitness  of  any  measure  proposed  by  his 
Highness,"  and  not  one  of  them  would  pass  over 
to  the  Opposition  benches.  Nevertheless,  the 
establishment  of  this  Council,  whether  or  no  it 
did  any  work,  greatly  increased  Ismail's  prestige 
in  Europe,  and  everywhere  he  was  hailed  as  the 
most  enlightened  and  the  most  powerful  prince 
of  the  East.  On  the  strength  of  this  renewed 
confidence  in  his  abilities,  he  borrowed  through 
the  Anglo -Egyptian  Bank  the  nominal  sum  of 
£3,387,000,  and  set  himself  with  a  will  to  the 
pleasant  task  of  spending  the  £2,750,000  which 
it  realised. 

He  now  demanded  from  the  Sultan  a  further 
recognition  of  his  dignity.  He  asked  the  right 
to  make  treaties  with  foreign  Powers,  to  establish 
diplomatic  agencies  throughout  Europe,  to  raise 
a  large  navy  and  army,  and  so  forth.  He  further 
requested  his  overlord  to  allow  him  to  be  called 
Aziz  el  Misr  instead  of  Viceroy.  The  word  Aziz 
means  "Almighty,"  and  is  one  of  the  Mohammedan 
names  of  God.  Now,  the  Sultan's  own  name, 
Abd'el  Aziz,  meant  "  The  slave  of  the  Almighty," 


Ismail  Pasha  91 

and  it  was  obvious  that  if  Ismail  were  to  be  called 
Aziz,  it  might  have  been  suggested  by  the  frivolous 
that  the  Sultan  was  his  servant.  This,  and  all  the 
other  requests,  therefore,  were  flatly  refused  ;  and 
the  only  concession  which  was  made  to  him  was 
the  granting  of  the  hereditary  appellation  of 
Khedive,  an  obscure  title  of  Persian  origin,  which 
seemed  to  the  Sultan  to  be  less  pretentious  than 
that  proposed  by  Ismail.  The  Prince  was  deeply 
mortified  at  this  snub,  and  determined  to  seek 
consolation  in  a  visit  to  Europe,  where,  he  knew, 
he  would  be  accorded  the  deference  he  so  much 
desired. 

He  was  prepared  to  pay  for  the  honours  which 
he  hoped  to  receive,  and  to  pose  as  the  fabulously 
wealthy  potentate  of  his  European  friends'  belief. 
He  had  replenished  his  empty  purse  with  two 
large  loans,  and  for  the  moment  he  felt  himself 
to  be  in  very  comfortable  circumstances.  The  first 
of  these  two  loans  was  raised  by  Messrs  Fruhling 
and  Goschen,  and  represented  a  nominal  £3,000,000 
and  a  net  £2,640,000  ;  and  the  second  was  en- 
gineered by  the  Imperial  Ottoman  Bank,  being 
nominally  for  £2,080,000  and  actually  producing 
£1,700,000. 

In  Paris  he  was  received  with  royal  honours  ; 
and,  having  crossed  to  England,  he  was  met  at 
Dover  by  a  brilliant  company  of  court  and  military 
officers,  who,  amidst  the  cheers  of  the  crowd  and 
the  firing  of  salutes  from  the  guns  in  the  Castle, 


92     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

set  out  with  him  for  London.  Here  the  Prince  of 
Wales  met  him  and  conducted  him  to  the  Queen 
at  Windsor,  by  whom  he  was  royally  entertained 
for  two  days.  A  breathless  round  of  festivities  in 
his  honour  followed  ;  and  at  length  he  returned  to 
Paris,  where  again  he  was  everywhere  treated  en 
roi.  All  men  were  anxious  to  pay  their  respects 
to  this  charming-mannered  ruler  of  historic  Egypt, 
w^hose  wealth,  moreover,  appeared  to  be  so  bound- 
less, and  whose  personal  expenses  at  that  time 
probably  exceeded  those  of  any  European  monarch  ; 
and  it  was  thus,  with  a  very  enlarged  opinion 
of  himself,  that  he  returned  once  more  to  Con- 
stantinople for  a  further  visit  to  the  Sultan. 
On  this  occasion,  during  his  stay  in  that  city, 
he  paid  out,  in  one  way  and  another,  over 
£1,000,000;  but  he  does  not  appear  to  have 
obtained  any  further  concession  in  return  for  his 
vast  expenditure. 

On  his  arrival  in  Egypt  he  was  received  both  at 
Alexandria  and  at  Cairo  by  a  royal  salute  of  101 
guns,  and  for  several  days  fetes  in  honour  of  his 
return  w^ere  celebrated  throughout  the  country  at 
a  general  cost  of  about  £6000  per  hour.  Large 
numbers  of  tourists  were  now  wont  to  flock  to 
Egypt  during  the  winter  seasons,  and  many  of 
Ismail's  European  friends  paid  him  visits  in  his 
own  country.  Egypt  was  no  longer  a  barbaric 
land  cut  off  from  the  civilised  world ;  and  its 
ruler's  great  ambition  was  to  give  to  his  city  of 


Ismail  Pasha  93 

Cairo  a  European  aspect  which  should  excite  the 
favourable  comment  of  all  visitors.  He  therefore 
modernised  many  of  the  streets  of  the  capital, 
erected  several  fine  buildings,  built  himself  num- 
erous palaces,  and  even  constructed  a  large  Opera 
House.  He  also  laid  down  railways  through  the 
Delta,  and  made  large  docks  at  Suez. 

The  advance  of  civilisation  in  Egypt  under  his 
enlightened  rule  was  watched  with  intense  interest 
by  the  European  Powers.  It  was  believed  that  he 
was  about  to  found  a  great  Egyptian  Empire  as 
mighty  as  that  created  by  the  ancient  Pharaohs ; 
and,  indeed,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  such  was 
Ismail's  aim  throughout  his  reign.  It  was  stated 
on  all  sides  that  Cairo  and  Alexandria  would  soon 
vie  in  magnificence  with  the  first  cities  of  Europe, 
and  that  from  their  gates  the  newly-trained  armies 
of  the  Khedive  would  march  out  to  subdue  the 
neighbouring  nations.  Sir  Samuel  Baker  was  to 
be  sent  to  Central  Africa  to  bring  those  regions 
under  his  sway,  and  the  British  public  noted  with 
especial  pleasure  that  this  expedition  had  for  one 
of  its  objects  the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade. 
In  a  few  years  it  was  expected  that  the  Turkish 
Empire  would  collapse,  and  that  the  Khedive 
would  find  himself  master  of  the  entire  east  end 
of  the  Mediterranean  at  the  same  time  that  he 
was  lord  of  the  Sudan  and  suzeraine  of  Arabia. 
There  was  no  limit  to  European  expectations  or 
to  Ismail's  dreams ;  and  it  was  with  deep  satisfac- 


94     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

tion    that    the    Khedive    now    found  himself  the 
object  of  all  men's  interest. 

The  cost  of  these  undertakings,  and  his  own 
enormous  expenditure,  led  him  once  more  into 
serious  debt;  and  in  1867  he  was  obliged  to 
borrow  the  sum  of  £11,890,000  at  a  high  rate 
of  interest.  The  loan  was  obtained  through 
Messrs  Oppenheim,  and  so  great  were  the  charges 
and  fees  that  only  £7,193,000  ever  reached  Ismail's 
hands.  At  the  same  time  the  peasantry  were  taxed 
in  the  most  cruel  manner,  and  the  distress  in  the 
provinces  was  acute.  Ismail  had  at  his  disposal 
the  entire  revenues  of  the  country,  and  he  retained 
in  his  possession  both  the  private  ledgers  of  his 
personal  estate  and  also  the  public  books  of  the 
Ministry  of  Finance.  Being  a  keen  business  man 
in  regard  to  the  development  of  his  own  fortune, 
he  entered  into  all  manner  of  remunerative  schemes, 
and  his  private  income  must  have  been  enormous. 
He  was  a  partner  in  a  bank  which  lent  money  to 
the  peasants  at  high  rates  of  interest,  and  as  the 
enforced  taxes  generally  obliged  the  farmers  to 
borrow,  there  was  never  any  lack  of  business.  He 
owned  extensive  sugar  plantations  and  factories, 
and  his  hand  was  heavy  upon  those  persons  who 
purchased  their  sugar  elsewhere.  He  was  half 
shareholder  in  a  Nile  transport  company,  which 
brought  large  profits  to  himself,  owing  to  his 
privileged  trading  rights.  He  was  the  largest 
cotton-grower  and  merchant  in  the  country.     He 


Ismail  Pasha  95 

owned  vast  herds  of  sheep  and  cattle,  which,  by 
sovereign  privilege,  he  was  able  to  import  free 
of  all  quarantine  duties.  He  dealt  also  in  coal, 
bringing  it  into  Egypt  free  of  duty  and  on 
Government  vessels.  He  owned  at  least  a  quarter 
of  the  best  lands  in  the  country,  having  himself 
obtained  in  one  way  or  another  some  970,000  acres 
of  good  ground  ;  and,  being  Khedive,  he  was 
exempt  from  the  land  tax,  and  could  employ  forced 
and  unpaid  labour.  Thus  he  was  able  to  amass 
a  very  considerable  private  fortune  at  the  same 
time  that  the  treasury  of  the  country  was  being 
depleted  in  so  startling  a  manner. 

The  year  1869  may  be  regarded  as  that  in 
which  the  revelries  and  extravagances  of  Ismail's 
reign  reached  their  height.  One  of  the  first 
events  of  the  year  was  a  ball  given  at  the  palace 
of  Ghezireh  ;  and,  as  an  example  of  the  Khedive's 
excesses,  a  single  fact  may  be  mentioned  in  regard 
to  this  fete.  To  reach  the  palace  the  broad  Nile 
had  to  be  crossed,  and  his  Highness  felt  that  the 
obtaining  of  launches  and  boats  would  be  a  nuisance 
both  to  himself  and  to  his  guests.  He  therefore 
gave  instructions  that  a  temporary  bridge  should 
be  constructed  across  the  river,  here  nearly  half  a 
mile  broad,  and  this  was  done  with  infinite  pains 
at  a  huge  cost.  The  refreshments,  illuminations, 
fireworks,  and  so  forth,  which  formed  an  indis- 
pensable part  of  both  this  and  of  other  functions, 
cost  the  country  thousands   of   pounds  ;    and   so 


96     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

prodigal  was  Ismail's  hospitality  that  all  manner 
of  Europeans  and  Americans  who  had  met  his 
Highness  in  various  parts  of  the  world,  or  who 
had  obtained  letters  of  introduction  to  him,  were 
catered  for  and  entertained  in  the  most  lavish 
manner  at  the  expense  of  the  nation,  whenever 
and  for  whatever  length  of  time  they  chose  to 
stay  in  Egypt.  Moreover,  at  the  palace  of  Abdin 
it  is  said  on  the  highest  authority  that  something 
like  10,000  natives  were  daily  fed,  as  being  in  some 
way  employed  by  the  Khedive.  In  February  of 
this  year  the  Prince  and  Princess  of  Wales  paid  a 
visit  to  Egypt,  and  marvellous  were  the  festivities 
organised  in  their  honour.  Two  vast  palaces  were 
placed  at  their  disposal  while  they  remained  in 
Cairo,  and  when  they  went  up  the  Nile  a  fine  fleet 
of  vessels  accompanied  the  sumptuous  Khedivial 
steamer  upon  which  they  travelled.  Meanwhile 
practically  all  Government  work  was  suspended, 
owing  to  the  fact  that  Ismail  had  engaged  the 
services  of  almost  every  clerk  who  could  speak 
French,  in  order  that  he  might  obtain  some  sort 
of  translation  into  Arabic  of  the  '  QEil  Greve,'  the 
'  Belle  Helene,'  the  '  Mariee  de  Mardi  Gras,'  and 
other  works  of  Offenbach  which  he  desired  his 
court  and  hctrtm  to  appreciate,  although,  of  course, 
he  had  never  read  them  himself 

Ismail  always  held  strong  views  in  regard  to  the 
education  of  his  womenkind.  He  liked  them  to 
be  able  to  converse  freely  with  the  European  ladies 


Ismail  Pasha  97 

who  visited  them,  and  he  desired  them  to  imitate 
to  the  best  of  their  ability  the  manners  and  ac- 
complishments of  the  ladies  he  met  in  Paris  and 
London.  He  insisted,  too,  that  they  should  be 
well  and  fashionably  dressed ;  and  in  the  pursuit 
of  this  object  he  permitted,  in  one  case,  a  bill  of 
£150,000  to  accumulate  at  a  French  dressmaker's 
for  clothes  supplied  to  a  lady  of  his  hartm. 

Very  naturally,  the  Egyptian  people  began  to 
murmur  at  the  tyrannical  manner  in  which  money 
was  forced  from  them.  The  peasants  throughout 
the  country  were  starving,  and  the  importunate 
tax-gatherers  were  obliged  to  wring  from  them  the 
uttermost  piastre  by  means  of  torture  or  by  the 
forcible  sale  of  their  miserable  effects.  Thousands 
emigrated  into  Syria,  and  vast  tracts  of  land  passed 
into  barren  disuse.  Many  were  obliged  to  raise 
money  from  usurers  at  the  rate  of  30  per  cent 
per  month,  and  by  no  means  an  inconsiderable 
number  of  once  wealthy  landowners  preferred  to 
live  the  life  of  unattached  mendicants  rather  than 
cultivate  the  crops  upon  which  they  would  be 
forced  to  pay  such  outrageous  taxes.  It  was  not 
surprising,  therefore,  that  rumours  of  plots  to 
assassinate  the  Khedive  now  began  to  circulate. 
The  most  serious  of  these  emanated  from  the 
ranks  of  the  military,  and  it  was  freely  stated 
that  a  mutiny  or  revolution  was  about  to  take 
place.  The  troops  were  badly  fed,  and  their  pay 
had  fallen  into  arrears  ;  and,  moreover,  the  constant 

G 


PinnA  VIOTA  DIIDlin  IIDDADV 


98     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

news  which  came  to  them  of  the  distress  in  their 
homes  and  villages  irritated  them  into  acts  of 
flagrant  disloyalty,  which  eventually  came  to  the 
ears  of  Ismail.  His  Highness  acted  promptly. 
Eleven  wretched  soldiers  were  court-martialled 
and  shot  ;  and  a  few  weeks  later  four  others  who 
were  found  trespassing  in  the  palace  grounds  were 
by  his  orders  slaughtered  on  the  spot,  their  bodies 
being  thrown  into  the  Nile. 

Ismail  was  in  character  purely  Oriental,  and  the 
careful  veneer  of  Parisian  polish  did  not  obliterate 
the  crude  tendencies  due  to  his  upbringing.  The 
courteous  and  fascinating  Prince  who  so  successfully 
graced  the  drawing-rooms  of  London  and  Paris, 
and  so  completely  charmed  the  Kings  and  Queens 
of  Europe,  was  hardly  to  be  recognised  in  the 
grotesque  despot  who  roamed  uneasily  about  his 
palace  when  his  English  and  French  friends  were 
not  nigh,  ordering  the  instant  execution  of  those 
who  had  incurred  his  wrath,  or  devising  means 
of  robbing  his  subjects  of  their  hard-earned  money. 
It  is  said  on  good  authority  that  his  dealings  with 
the  very  numerous  ladies  of  his  harim  were  of  a 
truly  Oriental  character ;  and  on  one  occasion, 
having  discovered  that  certain  of  these  unfortunate 
women  were  carrying  on  small  intrigues  with  the 
officers  of  the  guard,  he  is  related  to  have  flogged 
them  to  death  and  to  have  thrown  their  bodies, 
tied  up  in  sacks,  into  the  river. 

"  The  people  he  liked  best  to  talk  to,"  said  his 


Ismail  Pasha  99 

English  coachman  in  after  years,  "  were  his  ser- 
vants, the  lads  who  brought  him  his  pipes,  and 
stood  before  him  with  their  arms  crossed.  He 
sometimes  sat  on  his  sofa  and  smoked,  and  talked 
to  them  for  hours,  all  about  women  and  such 
things.  I  have  known  him  sometimes  try  to  read 
a  French  novel,  but  he  would  be  two  hours  getting 
through  a  page.  Once  or  twice  I  saw  him  attempt 
to  write.  His  letters  were  half  an  inch  high,  like 
those  of  a  child's  copybook.  I  don't  think  that  he 
ever  finished  a  sentence." 

He  was,  of  course,  a  consummate  actor,  and  he 
managed  to  play  the  role  of  a  civilised,  and  even 
constitutional,  monarch  with  almost  invariable 
success.  Europeans  considered  him  to  be  not 
only  enlightened,  but  by  nature  humane  and 
benevolent ;  and  great  would  have  been  the  con- 
sternation in  many  a  scrupulous  home  had  the 
true  character  of  the  honoured  guest  at  that  time 
become  known.  Ismail  enjoyed  acting  a  part, 
and  he  loved  to  surround  himself  with  the  stage- 
like attributes  which  he  considered  best  able  to 
set  off  his  own  royal  dignity.  On  one  occasion  he 
organised  a  grand  review  of  his  troops  for  the 
benefit  of  his  European  visitors,  and  he  took 
particular  pride  in  the  parade  of  what  he  was 
pleased  to  call  his  camel  corps ;  but  it  was  dis- 
covered at  a  later  date  that  the  fierce,  white-clad 
Bedouins  who  rode  past  the  grand-stand  in  their 
martial    hundreds    were    in    reality   loafers     and 


loo     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

beggars  who  had  been  whipped  in  for  this  one 
performance,  and  had  been  mounted  on  baggage 
camels  commandeered  from  the  neighbouring 
farms.  Ismail  had  observed  in  Europe  that  on 
state  occasions  the  halls  of  the  palaces  were 
guarded  by  bearded  and  magnificently-apparelled 
men-at-arms,  such  as  the  Yeomen  of  the  Guard  in 
London  or  the  Swiss  Guard  in  Paris ;  and  he 
decided  to  adopt  this  pleasing  custom  at  his  fdtes 
in  Cairo.  But  Egyptians  are  not  often  bearded, 
and  Ismail  therefore  bought  a  number  of  false 
beards,  issued  them  to  the  tallest  men  in  his 
bodyguard,  together  with  a  set  of  comic-opera 
uniforms,  and  thus  formed  a  company  of  state 
sentinels  who  were  the  pride  of  his  eye.  When 
the  rooms  in  which  the  fetes  were  being  held 
grew  hot,  it  is  said  that  these  men  were  wont  to 
push  up  their  beards  and  mop  their  necks  in  a 
manner  most  startling  to  the  assembled  guests. 
Instances  of  this  theatrical  love  of  display  are  too 
numerous  to  mention  ;  but  this  one  illustration 
will  give  a  fair  idea  of  the  turn  of  Ismail's  mind  in 
this  regard. 

In  the  summer  of  1869  his  Highness  again 
visited  Europe  for  the  ostensible  purpose  of  drink- 
ing the  waters  at  Vichy.  He  sailed  from  Egypt 
in  his  magnificent  yacht,  accompanied  by  three 
men-o'-war,  a  salute  of  101  guns  being  fired  from 
the  Alexandria  forts  as  he  steamed  out  of  the 
harbour.     At  Corfu  he  paid  a  call  on  the  King  of 


Ismail  Pasha  loi 

Greece,  and  personally  invited  him  to  attend  the 
ceremony  of  opening  the  Suez  Canal,  which  was 
then  nearing  completion.  To  Queen  Olga  he  pre- 
sented the  sum  of  100,000  francs  for  the  relief  of 
the  Cretan  refugees,  an  action  which  very  naturally 
gave  great  offence  to  his  overlord,  the  Sultan. 
He  then  travelled  on  to  Florence,  whither  King 
Victor  Emanuel  hastened  to  meet  him ;  and  there 
he  was  lodged  in  royal  state  in  the  Pitti  Palace. 
Having  also  invited  the  Italian  King  to  attend 
the  coming  fetes  in  Egypt,  he  made  his  way  to 
Vienna,  where  he  was  lavishly  entertained,  and 
where  he  gave  a  similar  invitation  to  the  Emperor 
of  Austria.  Thence  he  travelled  to  Berlin,  being 
received  there  with  sovereign  honours,  and  in  re- 
turn inviting  the  King  and  the  Crown  Prince  of 
Prussia  to  attend  the  Suez  celebrations.  At  Paris 
he  issued  a  similar  invitation  to  the  Emperor  and 
Empress  of  France,  and  so  at  length  he  reached 
London.  Here  Buckingham  Palace  itself  was 
assigned  to  him  for  his  use ;  and  the  Queen,  the 
Prince  of  Wales,  and,  in  fact,  the  entire  assemblage 
of  British  celebrities,  did  him  every  possible 
honour,  to  all  of  whom  he  sent  formal  invitations 
to  the  inauguration  of  the  great  Canal.  The  Czar 
of  Russia  and  other  royal  personages  requested 
him  to  do  them  the  honour  of  visiting  their 
capitals ;  but  Ismail,  being  surfeited  with  glory 
and  renown,  did  not  accede  to  their  requests. 
Before  he  returned  to  his  native  land  he  placed 


I02     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

with  a  well-known  firm  of  shipbuilders  an  order  for 
two  powerful  ironclads,  and  elsewhere  he  pur- 
chased 200,000  chassepots  and  several  needle-guns. 
This  was  for  the  Sultan  the  last  straw.  Abd'el 
Aziz  had  heard  with  fury  of  his  vassal's  mag- 
nificent reception  in  Europe,  and,  through  the 
Ottoman  agencies,  he  had  informed  the  various 
royalties  that  the  invitations  issued  to  them  by 
Ismail  were  invalid  and  spurious.  He,  the  Sultan, 
was  alone  Ruler  of  Egypt,  and  his  Viceroy  had  no 
right,  he  declared,  to  act  in  any  way  without  his 
knowledge  and  sanction.  To  Ismail  he  then  sent 
a  letter  demanding  that  he  should  come  to  Con- 
stantinople immediately  to  tender  his  apologies, 
that  he  should  hand  over  at  once  the  battleships 
which  he  had  ordered,  and  that  he  should  promise 
in  future  to  act  strictly  as  the  Viceroy  of  the 
Porte. 

Ismail  prevaricated  and  hedged  until  the  late 
autumn,  when,  for  a  time,  a  truce  was  called  in 
order  that  the  opening  of  the  Suez  Canal  might  be 
celebrated  without  any  untoward  incident.  In  the 
second  week  of  November,  1869,  the  Khedive's 
guests  began  to  pour  into  Egypt.  Of  the  royalties 
invited,  only  the  Empress  Eugenie,  the  Emperor 
of  Austria,  the  Crown  Prince  of  Prussia,  Prince 
Henry  of  the  Netherlands,  and  Prince  Louis  of 
Hesse  presented  themselves  ;  but  large  numbers 
of  minor  celebrities,  and  some  three  thousand 
guests  of  no  particular  importance,  availed  them- 


Ismail  Pasha  103 

selves  of  his  Highness's  invitation  to  spend  a  week 
or  more  in  Egypt  at  his  expense. 

The  preparations  for  the  reception  of  the  royal 
personages  were  prodigious.  Ismail  was  told  by 
his  French  friends  that  the  Empress  Eugenie 
would  be  sure  to  visit  the  Pyramids  and  Sphinx, 
which  stand  some  seven  miles  outside  Cairo ;  and 
he  therefore  gave  immediate  orders  that  a  fine 
embanked  road  should  be  constructed  in  a  straight 
line  from  the  Nile  to  these  monuments,  and  that  a 
large  house  should  be  built  on  the  spot,  in  order 
that  her  Majesty  might  have  a  place  wherein  to 
take  her  luncheon.  Pealising  that  it  would  be 
correct  to  give  a  state  ball  at  Ismailia  during 
the  fetes,  he  caused  a  magnificent  palace  to  be 
built  there  solely  for  that  purpose.  The  most 
costly  suites  of  furniture  were  procured  from  Paris 
to  furnish  the  rooms  in  which  the  royalties  should 
reside  during  their  brief  visit  to  Egypt ;  and  ex- 
pensive pictures  from  the  Paris  Salon  were 
purchased  to  hang  upon  the  walls. 

On  November  17,  amidst  salvoes  from  the  Egyp- 
tian and  European  men-o'-war  and  batteries,  and 
the  music  of  massed  naval  and  military  bands, 
the  Canal  was  declared  open.  A  procession  of 
forty-eight  ships,  headed  by  the  Empress's  yacht, 
sailed  through  the  Canal  to  Ismailia,  where  a 
vast  banquet  was  given  in  a  city  of  tents  and 
temporary  kiosks.  Watched  by  the  Egyptian 
stars,  and  in  the  light  of  ten  thousand  lanterns, 


104     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

Ismail  sat  that  night  with  the  Empress  of  France 
on  his  right  hand  and  the  Emperor  of  Austria  on 
his  left,  drinking  toasts  to  the  future  of  Egypt 
and  to  the  progress  of  civilisation ;  while  around 
his  splendid  pavilion  his  thousands  of  guests 
jested,  revelled,  and  stuffed  themselves  with  good 
things,  the  bands  playing  and  the  richly-robed 
servants  hurrying  to  and  fro  with  inexhaustible 
supplies  of  wine  and  food.  There  was  not  a 
thought  in  the  mind  of  any  man  present  of  the 
impending  storm ;  yet  on  all  sides  events  were 
working-  towards  a  crisis.  The  Sultan  sat  at 
Constantinople  moodily  promising  to  humiliate 
his  vassal ;  the  Egyptian  peasants,  groaning 
under  their  cruel  taxation,  were  murmuring 
against  their  rulers ;  and  in  Europe  the  financiers 
who  had  loaned  money  to  the  Khedive  were  be- 
coming anxious  and  restless.  The  Canal  celebra- 
tions cost  the  country  about  £1,300,000;  and 
another  £10,000  was  spent  in  publishing  the 
official  history  of  the  proceedings  in  elephant 
folio. 

No  sooner  had  the  guests  departed  to  their 
homes  across  the  sea  than  the  Sultan  sent  the 
Khedive  an  ultimatum  demanding  complete  sur- 
render on  all  points.  Ismail,  however,  having  said 
farewell  to  his  friends,  had  gone  up  the  Nile  with 
an  American  lady  ;  and  he  did  not  trouble  to  reply 
to  the  Porte  until  his  return  to  Cairo.  Meanwhile, 
considerable  preparations  for  war  were  made  ;  and 


Ismail  Pasha  105 

it  seemed  at  one  time  as  though  his  Highness 
intended  to  try  his  strength  with  Turkey  and  to 
attempt  to  obtain  his  independence  by  force  of 
arms.  Great  fortifications  were  constructed  at 
Alexandria,  and  there  was  a  continuous  movement 
of  troops  throughout  the  Delta.  A  large  number 
of  American  free-lances  were  enrolled  as  Egyptian 
officers,  and  a  certain  degree  of  efficiency  was 
obtained.  A  heated  exchange  of  letters  now  took 
place  between  Cairo  and  Constantinople,  and  at 
length  a  compromise  was  arrived  at.  Ismail  agreed 
to  hand  over  the  two  men-o'-war  which  he  had 
purchased  in  Europe,  on  condition  that  the  money 
paid  for  them  was  returned  to  him  by  the  Porte. 
He  made  certain  apologies  and  certain  worthless 
promises  to  his  overlord,  and  a  few  minor  conces- 
sions were  granted  to  him  by  the  Sultan.  Honour 
being  thus  satisfied,  Ismail  obtained  through  the 
firm  of  Bischoffsheim  a  loan  of  £7,142,860,  which 
had  a  net  value  of  £5,000,000,  and  settled  down 
quietly  to  the  spending  of  this  sum.  In  all  direc- 
tions he  Europeanised  Cairo,  Alexandria,  and  other 
parts  of  the  country.  During  his  reign,  it  is  to  be 
recorded  to  his  credit,  nearly  5000  schools  were 
built,  8000  miles  of  canals  were  dug,  1000  miles 
of  railway  laid  down,  and  about  5500  miles  of 
telegraph  wires  set  up.  Great  public  buildings 
were  erected ;  a  fine  harbour  was  built  at  Alex- 
andria at  a  cost  of  £2,500,000  ;  and  all  manner  of 
industrial  works  were  put  in  hand.    These  expenses 


io6     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

and  his  own  amazing  extravagances  again  involved 
him  in  huge  debts,  and  in  1872  he  was  obUged  to 
raise  a  further  loan  of  £4,000,000. 

He  now  arranged  to  pay  a  visit  once  more  to 
Constantinople  in  order  to  renew  friendly  relations 
with  the  Sultan,  who  had  undertaken  to  let  by- 
gones be  bygones.  On  his  arrival  he  was  received 
with  great  cordiality,  it  Laving  come  to  the  ears 
of  Abd'el  Aziz  that  his  vassal  possessed  at  the 
moment  a  full  purse.  Ismail  did  not  disappoint 
him  in  this  regard.  He  presented  his  overlord 
with  50,000  Martini -Henry  rifles  of  the  latest 
pattern,  and  gave  him  for  himself  the  sum  of 
£900,000.  To  the  Grand-Vizier  he  gave  £25,000, 
to  the  Minister  of  War  £15,000,  and  to  other 
officials  £20,000.  Furthermore,  he  invited  the 
Sultan  to  a  superb  fete,  and  at  the  end  of  the 
banquet  with  which  it  opened  he  presented  to  him 
a  gorgeous  Parisian  dinner-service  made  of  pure 
gold  studded  with  large  diamonds  and  other 
precious  stones.  In  return  for  these  gifts  he  re- 
ceived Sijirmdn  granting  him  practical  sovereignty 
over  Egypt,  liberty  to  contract  loans  without  the 
interference  which  lately  had  been  threatened, 
and  power  to  make  certain  commercial,  but  not 
political,  treaties  with  foreign  countries.  At  the 
same  time,  however,  Egypt's  tribute  to  the  Porte 
was  raised  to  £682,000  ;  and  at  that  figure  it 
remained  till  present  times.  In  view  of  recent 
events,  it  is  interesting  to  note  also  some  of  the 


Ismail  Pasha  107 

other  points  in  the  arrangement  then  made 
between  Turkey  and  Egypt.  It  was  agreed  that 
Egypt  should  remain  an  integral  part  of  the 
Turkish  Empire,  and  that  taxes  should  be  col- 
lected, and  coinage  issued,  in  the  name  of  the 
Sultan.  The  Egyptian  Army  should  be  at  the 
service  of  the  Porte  in  the  event  of  that  Power 
being  at  war ;  and  in  order  to  demonstrate  the 
fact  that  Egyptian  troops  were  actually  under  the 
authority  of  the  Sultan,  it  was  agreed  that  all 
orders  should  be  given  in  Turkish  and  all  ranks 
should  be  described  in  that  language.  It  was 
understood  also  that  Turkish  troops  might  cross 
Egyptian  territory  on  their  way  to  Tripoli,  or 
might  use  Egyptian  harbours  for  their  trans- 
ports. 

On  his  return  to  Egypt,  Ismail  found  himself  in 
very  great  financial  straits  ;  and  together  with  his 
Minister  of  Finance,  by  name  Ismail  Sadyk,  he 
was  obliged  to  devise  all  manner  of  means  for 
relieving  his  embarrassment.  Sadyk  was  a  cruel 
and  cunning  little  man,  at  this  time  much  given 
to  taking  small  doses  of  neat  brandy  at  all  hours 
of  the  day  and  night.  He  was  on  terms  of  the 
greatest  intimacy  with  his  master  ;  and  when  they 
were  not  poring  together  over  their  disreputable 
cash-books  and  ledgers,  they  were  usually  eating, 
drinking,  or  making  merry  with  one  another  in  the 
palace.  Sadyk  now  devised  a  wonderful  scheme 
for  raising   the   urgently    needed    funds  :    it   was 


io8     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

known  as  the  Moukabaleh,  or  "Act  of  Compensa- 
tion," The  plan  was  that  the  peasants  should  pay 
in  advance  six  years'  land  tax,  and,  in  return,  half 
of  the  tax  should  be  for  ever  redeemed.  It  was 
hoped  that  by  this  means  some  £28,000,000  would 
be  raised  at  once ;  but  although  pamphlets  were 
issued  pointing  out  that  the  money  was  required 
to  free  Egypt  from  the  clutches  of  wicked  European 
usurers,  and  that  all  patriots  should  make  this 
heroic  effort  for  the  saving  of  their  country,  only 
the  wealthy  landowners  responded  to  the  appeal, 
the  small  holders  being  already  too  fleeced  to  be 
able  to  find  the  money,  and  not  more  than 
£8,000,000  was  raised.  Ismail  was  obliged,  there- 
fore, to  turn  once  more  to  Europe ;  and,  after 
considerable  difficulty,  he  borrowed,  in  1873, 
from  Messrs  Oppenheim  the  nominal  sum  of 
£32,000,000,  the  net  value  of  which  was  not  more 
than  £17,000,000.  In  the  following  year  he 
borrowed  a  further  £3,000,000,  and  also  raised 
a  native  loan  of  £3,420,000. 

Having  some  reason  to  be  annoyed  with  the 
Sultan  of  Darfur,  a  country  situated  beyond  his 
southern  frontiers,  Ismail  now  thought  that  it 
might  be  profitable  to  annex  his  dominions ;  and 
he  therefore  despatched  an  expedition  to  those 
regions.  The  enemy  was  easily  conquered,  and 
the  Sultan  and  his  family  were  brought  in  chains 
to  Cairo,  where,  so  it  is  said,  Ismail  caused  them 
to    be   quietly    murdered.       Similar    tactics    were 


Ismail  Pasha  109 

applied  to  Abyssinia  both  in  1873  and  1875,  but 
the  campaigns  were  not  altogether  successful,  and 
the  Treasury  gained  nothing  by  them. 

Ismail  and  Sadyk  were  now  at  their  wits'  end, 
for  already  in  1875  all  the  money  which  had  been 
borrowed  or  raised  in  taxes  was  exhausted,  and 
not  another  piastre  could  be  flogged  out  of  the 
peasants.  In  despair.  Treasury  bonds  were  issued 
to  the  extent  of  as  much  as  £400,000  in  return 
for  cash  advances  of  £100,000  at  20  per  cent. 
Egyptian  credit  had  fallen  to  its  lowest  level,  and 
nowhere  could  financiers  be  found  who  would  take 
the  risk  of  lending  the  princely  spendthrift  another 
pound.  During  this  time  Ismail  retained  his 
cheerful  demeanour  in  a  most  remarkable  manner. 
He  never  appeared  to  be  ruffled,  and  his  behaviour 
to  those  around  him  was  invariably  considerate 
and  gracious.  Even  those  most  opposed  to  him 
were  obliged  to  admit  that  he  made  a  gallant 
struggle  against  the  crushing  consequences  of  his 
extravagance ;  and  it  would  even  seem  that  the 
fighting  instincts  in  his  nature  found  a  desired 
vent  in  the  battles  which  he  daily  fought  against 
his  creditors  and  against  the  controllers  of  his 
finances.  It  was  at  this  period  of  gloom  and 
despair  that  England  came  to  the  rescue,  through 
Disraeli's  astute  purchase  of  the  Suez  Canal  shares 
for  £4,000,000,  a  move  which  has  proved  most 
hugely  profitable  to  England,  and  which  at  the 
time  saved  Egypt  from  immediate  ruin.    No  sooner 


no     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

did  it  become  known  that  the  British  Government 
had  made  this  investment,  and  v^as  going,  more- 
over, to  send  out  a  great  financial  expert — 
Mr  Cave — to  make  a  thorough  examination  of 
Egyptian  finances,  than  Egyptian  credit  went  up 
once  more  with  a  bound,  and  Ismail  could  have 
borrowed  at  that  moment  any  sum  he  cared  to  ask 
for.  His  hand  was  stayed,  however,  by  the  con- 
sideration of  a  scheme  proposed  by  Messrs  Goschen 
and  Joubert,  by  which  the  whole  of  the  Khedive's 
debts  were  to  be  consolidated  into  a  preference 
5  per  cent  stock  of  £17,000,000  and  a  general 
unified  debt  of  £59,000,000. 

Sadyk  was  strongly  opposed  to  this  scheme,  but 
Ismail,  on  the  other  hand,  was  in  favour  of  it ;  and 
thus  it  came  about  that  the  friendship  of  these 
two  experts  in  abnormal  finance  was  brought  to  a 
sudden  end.  The  Khedive  felt  that  his  Minister 
stood  in  the  way  of  a  successful  termination  of  his 
difiiculties,  and,  without  further  to-do,  he  deter- 
mined to  rid  himself  of  the  encumbrance.  On 
November  9,  1876,  therefore,  he  behaved  himself 
towards  his  old  friend  in  such  a  manner  that 
Sadyk  was  obliged  to  tender  his  resignation.  The 
letter  in  w^hich  he  did  so,  however,  was  worded  in 
a  somewhat  insulting  manner,  and  Ismail's  placid 
temper  was  considerably  rufiled.  On  the  following 
day  his  Highness  sent  a  message  to  the  fallen 
Minister  inviting  him  to  drive  with  him,  as  was 
their  wont  in  the  past ;  and  Sadyk,  believing  that 


Ismail  Pasha  in 

Ismail  desired  to  patch  up  the  quarrel,  accepted 
the  invitation  with  alacrity.  At  the  palace  he 
was  received  hy  the  Khedive  most  cordially,  and 
together  the  two  men  took  their  seats  in  the 
carriage,  laughing  and  chatting  in  the  most 
friendly  manner.  Thus  they  drove  to  the  Ghezireh 
Palace  outside  the  city,^  but  as  the  carriage  pulled 
up  at  the  door,  the  unsuspecting  Sadyk  was  seized 
by  waiting  soldiers  and  was  speedily  locked  in  a 
room  at  the  back  of  the  building.  If  the  story 
current  both  in  native  and  European  circles  may 
be  believed,  he  was  then  stripped  of  his  clothes, 
and  for  the  space  of  about  an  hour  sat  shivering  in 
the  corner,  his  eyes  bleared  by  hard  drinking  and 
his  face  grey  with  fear.  At  length  a  powerful 
Arab  was  admitted  into  the  room  and  was  told  by 
an  officer  who  was  present  to  make  an  end  of  the 
miserable  little  man,  either  by  strangling  him  with 
his  hands  or  by  employing  some  other  method 
which  would  leave  few  tell-tale  marks  upon  the 
body.^  The  Arab  chose  one  of  the  latter  alter- 
natives. For  a  few  moments  he  chased  the  naked 
financier,  leaping  and  screaming,  around  the  room, 
and  then,  having  caught  him,  silenced  his  shrieks 
by  placing  a  hand  over  his  mouth.  Sadyk,  in 
his  agony,  fastened  his  teeth  into  his  murderer's 
thumb  and  bit  it  off;  but  he  was  soon  overpowered 

1  Now  the  Ghezireh  Palace  Hotel. 

2  Lord  Cromer,  in  his  '  Modern  Egypt,'  records  his  belief  that  the 
murder  took  place  a  few  days  later  on  board  a  Nile  steamer. 


112     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

and  done  to  death.  His  body  was  then  carried 
down  to  the  Nile  and'  thrown  into  the  water. 

Ismail,  meanwhile,  drove  back  to  Cairo  and 
announced  that  Sadyk  had  been  arrested  for 
treason,  having  incited  the  natives  to  revolt  and 
having  stirred  up  religious  animosity  both  against 
Europeans  and  against  the  Khedive.  On  the  next 
day  it  was  announced  that  the  late  Minister  had 
been  banished  to  Dongola,  where  it  was  to  be 
supposed  that  he  would  die  of  drink.  His  estates, 
valued  at  some  £3,000,000,  were  confiscated  and 
sold,  the  profits  going  for  the  most  part  to  Ismail ; 
and  thus  terminated  a  partnership,  the  twin 
members  of  which  had  been  responsible  for  the 
wasting  of  more  millions  of  money  than  had  any 
other  two  persons  in  the  world. 

The  Khedive  was  now  so  pressed  for  cash,  and 
so  pestered  by  the  bondholders,  whose  money  had 
been  advanced  to  him  for  so  many  years,  that  in 
March  1877  he  was  obliged  to  sign  a  decree 
appointing  commissioners  to  inquire  into  the 
general  state  of  Egyptian  finances.  With  extra- 
ordinary astuteness,  he  proposed  to  the  English 
and  French  Governments  that  the  task  should  be 
entrusted  to  General  Gordon  and  M.  de  Lesseps. 
Now  Gordon  was  a  peculiar  idealist,  whose  views 
on  finance  w^ere  palpably  absurd,  and  whose  know- 
ledge of  human  nature  was  that  of  a  child.  He 
had  a  profound  admiration  for  Ismail,  and  had 
expressed  the  amazing  hope  that,  on  his  death- 


Ismail  Pasha  113 

bed,  he  himself  might  feel  that  he  had  been  as 
good  and  honest  a  man  as  the  Khedive.  Ismail 
realised  that  Gordon  was  at  that  time  the  idol 
of  the  British  public,  and  he  was  aware  that 
de  Lesseps,  in  like  manner,  was  a  popular  favourite 
in  France,  as  being  the  adventurous  engineer  who 
had  carried  out  the  great  work  of  cutting  the 
Suez  Canal.  In  Gordon  he  saw  a  man  who  would 
look  into  the  state  of  the  country's  finances  in  the 
belief  that  they  were  above  suspicion  ;  and  in 
de  Lesseps  he  hoped  to  find  a  friend  who  was 
closely  bound  to  him  by  the  ties  of  mutual  under- 
standing and  common  interests.  The  proposal, 
however,  was  not  accepted  ;  and  indeed  General 
Gordon,  in  what  has  been  described  as  "one  of 
his  rare  flashes  of  common -sense,"  declined  to 
undertake  the  task.  A  commission  of  six  persons 
was  appointed,  of  whom  the  three  most  note- 
worthy members  were  Mr  Rivers  Wilson,  Major 
Baring  (afterwards  Lord  Cromer),  and  Monsieur 
de  Blignieres.  They  sat  from  April  13  to 
August  19,  1878,  and  to  the  Khedive's  horror 
and  dismay  they  came  to  the  conclusion  that  he 
himself  was  mainly  responsible  for  the  excessive 
expenditure,  and  that  practically  the  whole  of  his 
private  estate  must  be  included  in  the  list  of 
assets  which  was  to  be  drawn  up.  For  some  time 
he  refused  to  consent  to  their  demands ;  but  at 
length,  being  urged  by  the  threat  of  deposition, 
he  gave  Avay.      At  the  same  time,  awed  by  his 

H 


114     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

responsibilities,  he  agreed  to  rule  in  future  through 
the  medium  of  a  responsible  Ministry ;  and  he 
therefore  appointed  one  of  his  most  tried  states- 
men, Nubar  Pasha,  as  Premier,  Mr  Wilson  as 
Minister  of  Finance,  and  M.  de  Blignieres  as 
Minister  of  Public  Works.  For  a  short  time  he 
took  considerable  delight  in  foisting  all  difficulties 
on  to  this  Ministry  ;  and  to  all  those  who  asked 
him  awkward  questions  he  replied:  "You  must 
speak  to  my  Ministers.  It  is  they  who  govern, 
not  I."  But  after  a  while  he  tired  of  this  diver- 
sion, and  began  to  feel  the  need  for  action.  He 
found  it  impossible  to  tolerate  the  dominance  of 
Nubar,  who  was  both  an  Armenian  Christian  and 
an  honest  man,  and  he  felt  it  extremely  distasteful 
to  submit  to  the  scrutiny  of  his  Ministry.  For 
the  first  time  in  his  life  he  experienced  the  touch 
of  the  cold  hand  of  restraint ;  and  so  vital  had 
a  sense  of  power  become  to  him  that  the  very 
thought  of  impotence  caused  him  the  keenest 
distress.  He  therefore  began  now  to  scheme  for 
the  overthrow  of  the  Ministry,  and  it  was  not 
long  before  an  opportunity  presented  itself.  A 
large  number  of  Egyptian  officers  had  been 
retrenched  from  the  army  by  order  of  Mr  Wilson, 
whose  laudable  desire  was  to  cut  down  expenses 
in  all  directions  ;  but  by  some  oversight  these 
unfortunate  men  had  not  received  the  full  amount 
of  pay  due  to  them.  They  made  representations 
to  the   Khedive,  and  it  would  seem   that  Ismail 


Ismail  Pasha  115 

played  upon  them  his  favourite  joke  of  shifting 
all  responsibility  to  his  Ministers.  How  far  he 
actually  took  these  disaffected  officers  into  his 
confidence  is  not  known ;  but  it  is  certain  from 
their  subsequent  conduct  that  they  regarded  him 
as  their  friend.  One  morning,  while  Nubar  and 
Wilson  were  driving  towards  the  Ministry,  they 
openly  attacked  the  two  Ministers,  and  with  cries 
of  "  Death  to  the  Christians  ! "  surrounded  their 
carriages  and  severely  hustled  them.  No  blows 
were  struck,  however,  and  the  two  men  were  at 
last  able  to  force  their  way  into  their  offices,  where 
they  remained  besieged  by  the  mob  for  about  two 
hours.  At  the  end  of  this  time  Ismail,  fat  and 
omnipotent,  appeared  upon  the  scene  in  the  guise 
of  a  deliverer.  The  crowd  dispersed  at  once,  as 
if  by  arrangement  ;  and  the  Khedive  returned 
to  his  palace  with  the  pleasant  knowledge  that 
he  had  fairly  demonstrated  his  power  as  real 
Sovereign  of  Egypt. 

A  day  or  two  later,  as  though  in  response  to 
a  public  demand,  he  dismissed  Nubar  from  office ; 
and  on  April  7,  1879,  he  issued  a  statement 
to  the  effect  that,  in  view  of  the  public  dislike 
of  the  two  foreign  Ministers,  he  could  not  be 
responsible  for  their  safety  should  they  remain 
in  office,  and  that,  therefore,  he  considered  it 
prudent  to  dispense  with  their  services.  A  few 
days  later  the  Commission,  which  had  once  more 
met   to   inquire    further    into    the    state    of    the 


ii6     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

finances,  finding  the  Khedive  still  sufficiently 
powerful  to  obstruct  their  work  and  to  refuse 
to  fall  in  with  their  recommendations,  registered 
their  protest  against  the  existing  conditions  by 
resigning  ;  and  thus  once  more  Ismail  found  him- 
self monarch  of  all  he  surveyed. 

During  the  whole  of  this  troubled  period  the 
revels  and  fetes  at  the  palace  had  proceeded 
with  undiminished  splendour.  Night  after  night 
magnificent  dinner  -  parties  were  given,  and  the 
strangest  companies  of  European,  American,  and 
Egyptian  guests  sat  down  upon  the  priceless 
Sevres  chairs  to  discuss  the  dainty  French  dishes, 
which  were  served  to  them  upon  jev/el-studded 
plates  of  solid  gold.  At  these  functions  the 
corpulent  Khedive  presided  with  his  accustomed 
good-humour,  rolling  his  divergent  eyes  from  one 
to  another  of  his  friends,  and  raising  his  glass 
in  his  awkward  hand  to  their  very  good  health. 
During  the  daytime  he  was  busy  forming  a  plan 
for  the  payment  of  his  debts,  and  so  great  was 
his  confidence  in  his  own  sagacity  that  he  believed 
the  scheme  would  be  accepted  by  the  bondholders. 
He  did  not  think  that  either  France  or  England 
would  be  able  to  persuade  the  Sultan  to  depose 
him,  for  he  had  proved  too  constant  a  source  of 
financial  help  to  his  overlord  thus  to  be  discarded. 
He  therefore  banished  care  from  his  mind,  and 
gave  himself  freely  to  the  enjoyment  of  his  still 
enormous  fortune. 


Ismail  Pasha  117 

The  crash  came  unexpectedly.  Those  who  will 
consider  the  erratic  methods  of  German  diplomacy 
will  recall  to  mind  with  no  surprise  the  sudden 
action  of  Prince  Bismarck  in  this  year  1879,  when, 
without  any  reason  other  than  a  desire  to  assert 
its  authority,  and  to  frustrate  Franco- British 
policy  in  North  Africa,  the  Berlin  Government 
threatened  immediate  and  active  interference  in 
Egyptian  affairs,  unless  the  Khedive  were  deposed 
and  the  financial  questions  settled.  After  a  short 
period  of  astonished  consternation,  England  and 
France  joined  with  Germany  in  requiring  the 
Sultan  to  depose  Ismail;  and  on  June  25,  1879, 
his  Highness  received  a  telegram  from  Abd'el 
Aziz,  addressed  to  "  Ismail  Pasha,  late  Khedive 
of  Egypt,"  informing  him  that  henceforth  his  son 
Tewfik  was  to  reign  in  his  stead. 

The  blow  was  sudden  and  overwhelming,  but 
Ismail,  with  fine  courage,  met  it  in  a  calm  and 
most  dignified  manner.  To  his  Ministers  he  said  : 
"  Send  for  his  Highness,  Tewfik  Pasha,  at  once"; 
and  when  they  had  brought  the  agitated  young 
man  to  his  father,  the  deposed  potentate  bowed 
himself  before  him  and  kissed  his  hand,  saluting 
him  as  Khedive.  Ismail  had  often  declared — 
rather  unjustly  it  would  seem — that  Tewfik  was 
a  fool,  unworthy  to  sit  upon  the  throne  of  Egypt ; 
and  it  must  have  been  with  feelings  of  the  utmost 
bitterness  that  he  did  homage  to  his  despised 
and  unloved  son,  who  now  stood  trembling  before 


ii8     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

him.  Retiring  to  the  hartm,  the  ex-Khedive  at 
once  busied  himself  with  preparations  for  his  de- 
parture. He  selected  from  amongst  his  numerous 
wives  those  who  most  pleased  him ;  but  no  sooner 
was  the  choice  made  than  the  rejected  ladies, 
breaking  into  a  frenzy  of  anger,  smashed  every 
article  of  furniture  upon  which  they  could  lay 
their  fair  hands,  the  damage  being  estimated 
afterwards  at  nearly  £10,000.  Ismail  then  col- 
lected from  them  all  the  jewellery  which  from 
time  to  time  he  had  given  them ;  and  for  several 
days  he  employed  a  number  of  jewellers  in 
removing  all  precious  stones  from  their  settings 
in  order  that  they  might  be  more  easily  portable. 
He  next  caused  most  of  the  valuables  in  the  palace 
to  be  packed,  twenty-two  superb  services  of  gold 
plate  which  he  selected  to  take  with  him  being 
alone  worth  £800,000.  It  is  declared  by  some 
that  he  also  laid  hands  on  some  £300,000  which 
was  then  lying  in  cash  in  the  palace  treasury. 
On  June  30  the  packing  -  cases  containing  this 
wonderful  collection  of  treasures  were  sent  down 
by  goods  train  to  the  Khedivial  yacht  Mahroussa, 
which  was  lying  in  readiness  at  Alexandria  ;  and 
in  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day  Ismail  followed 
in  a  special  train,  accompanied  by  his  selected 
harim,  his  sons,  Hussein  (the  present  Sultan)  and 
Hassan,  and  a  small  suite.  On  his  arrival  on 
board  the  yacht  towards  evening,  many  European 
and    Egyptian    notables   of  Alexandria    came    to 


Ismail  Pasha  119 

wish  him  hon  voyage;  and  it  was  while  bidding 
these  persons  farewell  that  the  ex-Khedive,  for 
the  first  and  last  time,  showed  any  signs  of 
emotion.  Turning:  from  them  with  tears  in  his 
eyes,  he  retired  to  his  cabin ;  the  cables  were 
almost  immediately  slipped ;  and  amidst  the 
saluting  thunders  of  the  guns  in  the  forts  and 
on  the  English  battleships  in  the  harbour,  the 
yacht  passed  out  into  the  Mediterranean  as  the 
summer  sun  went  down. 

A  few  days  later  Ismail  arrived  at  Naples,  and 
took  up  his  residence  at  the  Favorita  Palace,  near 
Portici,  where  he  lived  for  some  years ;  but  in  the 
early  'eighties  he  abandoned  Italy,  and  for  a  long 
time  lived  an  itinerant  existence,  passing  from  one 
European  city  to  another  in  restless  dissatisfaction. 
He  was  still  received  with  deference  at  many  noble 
houses ;  and  in  London  or  Paris  he  was  constantly 
the  guest  of  honour  at  large  society  functions.  But 
the  kings  and  queens  who  had  once  been  proud  to 
call  themselves  his  friends  now  no  longer  received 
him  as  their  equal ;  and  not  for  one  moment  did 
he  cease  to  be  tormented  by  the  thought  of  his 
fallen  glory.  Day  after  day  throughout  these 
years  he  plotted  and  schemed  for  his  restoration 
to  power  ;  and  enormous  were  the  bribes  he  offered 
to  any  person  who  showed  signs  of  a  desire  to  assist 
him  in  the  attainment  of  his  object.  In  spite,  how- 
ever, of  the  constant  failure  of  his  plans  and  the 
protracted  disappointments  which  he  suffered,  his 


120     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

genial  demeanour  never  deserted  him,  and  on  all 
occasions  he  did  his  best  to  make  himself  pleasant 
and  agreeable  to  those  around  him.  At  last,  in 
1887,  he  was  invited  by  the  Sultan  to  take  up 
his  residence  at  Constantinople,  and,  weary  of  his 
wandering  life,  he  at  length  agreed  to  do  this. 
No  sooner  had  he  set  foot  in  Turkey,  however, 
than  he  became  a  political  prisoner ;  and  never 
again  was  he  permitted  to  leave  that  country. 
For  eight  years  he  lived  the  miserable  existence 
of  a  man  shadowed  by  the  police.  He  was  suffering 
from  a  serious  liver  complaint,  but  in  vain  he  im- 
plored the  Sultan  to  permit  him  to  go  to  Carlsbad 
for  its  treatment.  His  petitions  were  ignored ; 
and,  in  almost  constant  pain,  the  last  years  of 
his  life  were  dragged  out  in  the  hopeless  seclusion 
of  his  guarded  palace.  The  whole  pleasure  of  his 
life  had  lain  in  the  possession  of  power,  and  in  the 
ability  to  display  himself  to  all  men  as  the  mighty 
ruler  of  an  ancient  land ;  and  when  he  found  him- 
self cast  out  from  his  kingdom  and  trapped  in  that 
country  whose  homage  he  had  hoped  one  day  to 
receive,  the  condition  of  his  mind  was  such  that 
death  must  have  come  to  him  as  a  most  happy 
release  from  the  miseries  of  his  life. 


121 


CHAPTER   IV. 


AHMED    PASHA    ARABI. 


On  September  21,  1911,  there  died  at  Helouan, 
near  Cairo,  a  venerable  but  apparently  quite  un- 
distinguished old  Egyptian  of  the  peasant  class, 
who,  some  thirty  odd  years  ago,  from  a  precarious 
situation  as  doorkeeper  to  a  small  Levantine 
warehouseman  in  Alexandria,  pushed  his  way,  as 
it  were  by  the  aid  of  an  ironical  Fortune,  into 
the  office  of  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Egyptian 
army  and  Dictator  of  the  country's  destinies,  only 
to  be  bundled  back  into  obscurity  once  more  after 
an  ecstatic  month  or  two,  like  a  discarded  doll  into 
the  cupboard.  It  is  sometimes  difficult  to  decide 
whether  rather  simple  men  have  a  special  liability 
to  become  the  tools  of  Destiny  by  reason  of  some 
potent  quality  only  comprehended  by  men  in  their 
more  sheep-like  moments,  or  whether  Fate,  being 
very  very  young,  selects  her  instruments  with  the 
most  noteworthy  gullibility.  For  Ahmed  Arabi 
was  unquestionably  a  man  of  no  great  intelligence 
and  of  no  brilliance  at  all ;  and  yet  at  one  time  he 


122     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

found  himself — somewhat  bewildered,  it  is  true — 
in  a  position  to  measure  swords  with  the  armies 
of  Britain,  and  to  set  the  entire  civilised  world  to 
discussing  his  personality.  How  he  came  to  reach 
that  elevated  position  is  a  matter  of  wonder  to  all 
those  who  do  not  bear  in  mind  the  seeming  ab- 
surdities practised  so  often  by  Fortune,  nor  call  a 
kind  of  brutal  simplicity  one  of  Nature  s  particular 
passes  to  eminence.  No  one  who  saw  the  white- 
bearded  Arabi  sitting  half  asleep  in  his  little  house 
in  Ceylon,  or  afterwards  at  Helouan,  would  have 
dreamed  that  it  had  been  his  lot  once  to  make  all 
the  Powers  thoroughly  excited,  and  finally  to  go 
to  war  with  England ;  yet,  so  strangely  do  things 
happen,  this  rough  old  man,  whose  death  caused 
not  the  slightest  stir  either  in  Egypt  or  in  Europe, 
was  at  one  time  the  most  important  figure  in  the 
Near  East,  and  acted  as  a  kind  of  burly  monarch 
of  the  Nile. 

Ahmed  Arabi  was  born  in  1839,  so  far  as  he 
knew,  at  a  small  village  of  the  province  of  Char- 
kieh,  in  Lower  Egypt.  His  father  was  a  fellah, 
or  peasant,  who  owned  two  or  three  acres  of 
ground  which  he  cultivated  with  his  own  hands, 
bringing  up  his  four  sons  to  follow  the  same  means 
of  livelihood.  The  young  Arabi  thus  passed  his 
youth  without  education  and  without  any  know- 
ledge of  the  outside  world  ;  but,  being  of  a  restless 
disposition,  he  made  his  way,  while  still  in  his 
'teens,  to  Alexandria,  where  after  some  vicissitudes 


Ahmed  Pasha  Arabi  123 

he  obtained  a  situation  as  howctb,  or  doorkeeper, 
at  a  small  warehouse.  His  large  imposing  figure 
and  strong  massive  features,  however,  soon  caused 
him  to  fall  under  the  notice  of  the  army  recruiting 
officers ;  and  he  was  speedily  conscribed,  probably 
at  about  the  age  of  eighteen. 

As  a  soldier  he  was  a  considerable  success,  and 
it  was  not  long  before  he  received  promotion.  At 
that  time  the  Egyptian  army  was  a  mere  rabble, 
officered  by  men  of  all  social  grades.  Any  tinker 
or  tailor  who  had  come  into  the  good  graces  of  an 
important  personage  might  be  given  a  commission 
in  the  army ;  or  again,  any  private  soldier  or  cor- 
poral who  showed  the  slightest  ascendancy  over 
his  colleagues  might  suddenly  find  himself  raised 
to  the  rank  of  captain, — a  position  which  carried 
with  it  little  more  than  the  right  to  shout  and 
gesticulate  on  parade  with  freedom.  At  the  death 
of  the  Viceroy  Said,  in  1863,  Arabi  was  already 
a  captain  in  the  regiment  which  was  permanently 
on  duty  at  the  palace  in  Cairo ;  and,  although  still 
under  twenty-five  years  of  age,  he  seems  to  have 
been  a  somewhat  conspicuous  figure,  not  only  by 
reason  of  his  hulking  size  and  of  his  noisy,  good- 
natured  boisterousness,  but  because  of  his  rather 
pushing  and  assertive  manners. 

One  day,  early  in  the  reign  of  Ismail,  a  sad 
misfortune  befell  the  young  man.  He  was  be- 
having in  his  usual  hearty  manner  in  front  of 
the   palace,   jesting,    laughing,    and    indulging    in 


124     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

some  form  of  horse-play,  when  the  Khedive  looked 
out  of  the  window  in  a  very  black  temper.  "Upon 
my  word,"  said  his  Highness,  "  you  are  more  noisy 
than  the  big  drum,  and  much  less  useful "  ;  and 
therewith  he  gave  orders  for  Arabi's  immediate 
punishment.  The  punishment  does  not  seem  to 
have  been  severe,  but  it  was  sufficient  to  engender 
in  his  heart  the  most  bitter  resentment  towards 
the  Khedive,  who  was  already  much  disliked  by 
Egyptian  military  men  owing  to  his  favouritism 
towards  the  Turkish  and  Circassian  officers,  of 
whom  there  was  a  large  number  in  the  army. 
In  this  state  of  mind  he  attached  himself  to  a 
secret  society,  whose  aim  was  the  deposition  of 
the  Khedive,  thus  relieving  his  distraught  feelings 
by  plotting  all  manner  of  calamities  for  his  sove- 
reign lord.  Nothing,  of  course,  resulted  from  these 
proceedings,  and  many  years  had  passed  before 
Arabi  came  into  any  prominence  outside  his  small 
circle  of  discontented  brother  officers. 

War  broke  out  between  Abyssinia  and  Egypt, 
and  Arabi,  now  a  man  not  far  short  of  forty  years 
of  age,  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  transports  at 
Massowah.  Being  left  to  his  own  devices,  he  soon 
found  that  the  job  could  be  made  a  very  profitable 
one  to  himself,  and  for  some  time  he  laboured  whole- 
heartedly at  the  pleasurable  task  of  amassing  money 
at  Government  expense.  In  the  end,  however,  a 
charge  of  corruption  was  brought  against  him,  and 
he  was  disgraced  and  cashiered. 


Ahmed  Pasha  Arabi  125 

Stranded  in  Cairo  with  nothing  to  do,  and  with 
his  heart  full  of  hatred  towards  the  Khedive  Ismail, 
who  had  dismissed  him,  Arabi  began  to  frequent 
El  Azhar,  the  great  Moslem  college,  where,  in  the 
open  galleries,  he  listened  to  the  lectures  of  the 
Mohammedan  teachers,  and  learnt  by  heart  a 
large  number  of  passages  from  the  Koran,  which 
in  after  life  he  quoted  on  all  possible  occasions. 
This  piety  seems  to  have  served  him  in  good  stead, 
for  it  was  not  long  before  he  was  pardoned  by  the 
Khedive  and  readmitted  into  the  army — a  fact, 
however,  which  did  not  deter  him  from  joining 
once  more  the  secret  society,  and  resuming  the 
intrigues  against  his  Highness. 

This  society  had  now  assumed  some  importance, 
and  its  power  in  the  army  was  something  of  a 
menace  to  discipline.  Arabi,  by  his  vehement 
and  incautious  denunciations  of  the  Khedive,  came 
to  be  regarded  as  a  moving  spirit  in  its  councils  ; 
and  his  rustic  violence  seems  to  have  supplied  just 
that  touch  of  excitement  to  the  community  which 
made  each  member  feel  that  at  last  he  really  was 
participating  in  big  things.  Too  unwise  to  feel 
the  need  of  restraint,  Arabi  ranted  and  cursed, 
and  sent  shivers  of  nervous  ecstasy  down  the 
backs  of  his  colleagues,  thereby  providing  that 
very  sensation  for  which  every  member  of  a  secret 
society  is  in  search.  Somebody,  however,  betrayed 
them  to  Ismail,  who  at  once  sent  for  the  ring- 
leaders.    They  went  to  the  Palace  with  haggard 


126     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

faces  and  shaking  knees,  Hke  so  many  naughty 
schoolboys,  Arabi  himself  being  in  a  most  mortal 
fear.  The  Khedive,  however,  had  no  intention  of 
being  hard  upon  them.  None  realised  better  than 
he  the  delights  of  intrigue.  He  was,  to  use  a 
paraphrase,  always  playing  at  Pirates  and  Red 
Indians  himself;  and  he  felt  that,  in  this  case, 
it  would  be  much  more  amusing  for  them  all  to 
play  together  in  one  big  game.  He  therefore, 
there  and  then,  promoted  the  seventy  worst 
offenders  to  be  colonels  in  his  army ;  and  to 
Arabi,  as  being  the  most  noisy  of  them  all,  he 
gave  one  of  his  concubines  (in  whom  he  had  lost 
interest)  to  be  his  wife  and  helpmeet.  Arabi 
then  swore  to  defend  Ismail's  honour  with  his  life, 
and  to  work  only  for  his  interests.  Shortly  after 
this,  however,  in  1879,  Ismail  was  deposed,  as  we 
have  seen  in  the  last  chapter;  and,  forty-eight 
hours  after  the  deposition,  Arabi  was  on  his  knee 
before  the  new  Khedive,  Tewfik,  swearing  to 
defend  his  honour  till  death. 

With  the  deposition  of  Ismail  it  was  agreed 
that  the  army,  which  now  stood  at  some  45,000 
men,  should  be  reduced  to  18,000;  and  this,  of 
course,  produced  very  considerable  discontent  in 
military  circles.  A  great  many  officers  had  to  be 
put  on  half-pay,  and  much  annoyance  was  caused 
to  the  Egyptians  when  it  was  found  that  the 
majority  of  Turkish  and  Circassian  officers  serving 
in  the   army   were    retained   on   the   active   list. 


Ahmed  Pasha  Arabi  127 

Arabi,  now  a  full  colonel  in  command  of  the  4  th 
Regiment,  at  once  recommenced  his  intrigues,  and 
soon  became  the  not  unwilling  tool  of  a  certain 
cunning  Turkish  officer  named  Mahmoud  Sami, 
who  had  his  own  axe  to  grind.  Sami  induced 
Arabi  and  two  other  colonels,  Ali  Fehmy,  com- 
manding the  1st  Regiment,  and  Abd'  el  'Al,  to 
write  a  petition  to  the  Khedive,  asking  that  the 
Minister  of  War,  Osman  Rifki,  should  be  dis- 
missed, and  that  an  inquiry  should  be  held  into 
the  qualifications  of  the  foreign  officers  who  had 
recently  received  promotion, — "  for,"  said  the  peti- 
tioners, in  the  true  Egyptian  manner,  "we  ourselves 
are  far  superior  to  those  who  have  been  elevated." 
The  petition  was  insolent  in  tone,  and  it  was 
presently  decided  to  put  the  three  signatories 
under  arrest.  On  February  1,  1881,  on  the  pre- 
text that  arrangements  had  to  be  made  for  a 
certain  procession  which  was  about  to  take  place, 
they  were  ordered  to  appear  at  Kasr-el-Nil  bar- 
racks, which  stand  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Nile  ; 
and  the  location  of  this  building  suggested  to 
Arabi's  ignorant  mind  that  they  were  about  to 
be  done  to  death.  He  had  reason  to  suppose,  he 
declared,  that  a  steamer  was  moored  against  the 
barrack-square,  and  upon  this  he  and  his  friends 
were  to  be  taken  a  short  way  down-stream.  Iron 
chests  were  prepared  on  board,  into  which  he  and 
his  colleagues  were  to  be  pushed,  the  chests  being 
then   dropped  into  the  Nile.     Their  friend  Sami 


128     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

warned  them  that  death  in  some  horrible  form  no 
doubt  awaited  them ;  and  between  them  a  plan 
of  action  was  concocted.  It  was  decided  that  if 
the  three  colonels  had  not  returned  from  Kasr-el- 
Nil  after  two  hours  had  elapsed,  their  soldiers 
should  come  to  their  rescue,  led  by  Sami.  Thus, 
with  this  assurance  but  with  heavy  hearts,  Arabi, 
Ali  Fehmy,  and  Abd'  el  'Al  were  led  off  to  their 
unknown  fate. 

At  the  barracks  their  worst  fears  were  realised. 
They  found  themselves  in  the  presence  of  a  court- 
martial,  and  were  forthwith  subjected  to  a  cross- 
examination  of  the  most  penetrating  character. 
Such  procedure  in  Egypt,  however,  is  always  a 
slow  matter,  and  the  two  hours  had  elapsed  before 
the  case  for  the  prosecution  began  to  form  itself 
But  it  was  never  completed  ;  for  suddenly,  with  a 
rush  and  a  yell,  the  rescue  party,  some  hundreds 
strong,  charged  into  the  barracks  and  burst  into 
the  court -room.  Chairs  and  tables  were  upset, 
the  judges  were  pelted  with  their  own  manu- 
scripts, and  were  good-humouredly  tumbled  head 
first  into  the  pools  of  ink  which  lay  upon  the 
floor  before  them  ;  the  officers  of  the  court  were 
pushed  and  bumped  about  by  the  soldiery  ;  and 
in  a  moment  the  court-martial  presented  a  spec- 
tacle which  might  have  suggested  a  scene  in 
'  Alice  in  Wonderland.'  Nobody,  of  course,  was 
hurt,  for  the  Egyptians  are  inclined  to  treat  these 
affairs  in  the  manner  of  a  game,  but  everybody 


Ahmed  Pasha  Arabi  129 

was  hot,  and  flushed,  and  splashed  with  ink ;  and 
in  this  condition  the  whole  company,  headed  by 
the  regimental  band,  marched  over  to  the  palace, 
where,  in  the  courtyard  before  the  windows,  the 
three  colonels  demanded  that  Osman  Rifki  should 
resign  from  the  Ministry  of  War  in  favour  of 
Mahmoud  Sami,  that  the  Turkish  and  Circassian 
officers  should  be  excluded  from  the  service,  and 
that  the  strength  of  the  army  should  be  increased. 
It  was  now  the  height  of  the  tourist  season  in 
Cairo,  and  it  happened  that  the  regimental  band 
had  an  engagement  to  play  at  a  hotel  during  the 
hour  of  tea.  As  the  troops  awaited  the  Khedive's 
decision,  the  bandmaster  looked  at  his  watch  and 
reminded  Arabi  of  the  appointment,  for  the  hour 
was  drawing  near.  The  officers  knew  quite  well 
that  if  the  band  marched  off  the  troops  would 
wander  away  too,  and  the  demonstration  would 
prove  a  fiasco ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  nothing 
would  persuade  the  bandsmen  to  neglect  their 
remunerative  engagement.  The  whole  matter, 
therefore,  resolved  itself  into  the  question  as  to 
whether  the  Khedive  would  hold  out  until  the 
tourists'  tea-time,  or  whether  he  would  give  in 
before  that  hour.  Thus  the  mutinous  officers 
spent  their  time  in  whispering  and  looking  at 
their  watches,  or  in  turning  anxious,  pleading 
eyes  towards  the  benign  musicians,  who  did  not 
seem  to  realise  that  they  held  at  that  moment 
the  destinies  of  Egypt  in  their  power. 

I 


130     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

The  Khedive  Tewfik,  however,  did  not  know 
of  the  musical  arrangements  for  the  day,  and, 
after  one  last  look  at  the  formidable  host  out- 
side his  windows,  decided  to  grant  —  for  the 
moment — all  their  requests,  whereupon  the  troops 
dispersed  with  cries  of  "  Long  live  the  Khedive  !  " 
and  the  band  hurried  off  to  play  to  the  tourists 
at  the  hotel.  On  the  next  morning  Arabi  and 
his  colleagues  waited  on  the  Khedive,  and  made 
their  humble  apologies  to  him  for  the  disturbance 
of  the  previous  day.  They  were  extremely  nerv- 
ous as  to  their  safety,  and  their  deeds  of  the 
day  before  now  seemed  to  them  to  have  been 
terribly  bold.  They  believed  that  the  Khedive 
would  find  means  of  putting  them  to  death,  and, 
although  his  Highness  accepted  their  protesta- 
tions of  loyalty,  they  looked  for  no  mercy  from 
him  in  the  event  of  a  return  of  his  power. 

For  some  months  Arabi  and  his  brother  officers 
lived,  thus,  in  a  perpetual  state  of  nervousness ; 
but  in  July  1881  matters  once  more  came  to  a 
head.  The  Khedive  suddenly  dismissed  Mahmoud 
Sami  from  the  Ministry  of  War,  and  the  office 
was  given  to  his  Highness's  brother-in-law,  Daoud 
Pasha.  At  about  the  same  time  a  story  began  to 
be  circulated  that  Tewfik  had  obtained  a  secret 
fetwa,  or  decree,  from  the  Shekh  -  ul  -  Islam,  the 
active  head  of  the  Mohammedan  religion,  author- 
ising him  to  put  the  three  colonels  to  death  for 
high  treason.     There  was  no  truth   in  this,   but, 


Ahmed  Pasha  Arabi  131 

on  the  other  hand,  there  is  no  doubt  that  the 
Khedive  intended  to  take  drastic  measures  against 
them.  On  the  night  of  September  8  a  poHce 
agent  visited  the  house  of  Arabi,  but  was  refused 
admission.  Being  convinced  that  the  man  had 
been  sent  to  murder  him,  Arabi  hurried  to  the 
house  where  lived  his  two  colleagues,  who  reported 
that  they  had  received  a  similar  visitor,  to  whom 
admission  had  likewise  been  refused.  That  night, 
therefore,  they  planned  the  great  coup  of  the  fol- 
lowing day,  by  which  the  whole  history  of  modern 
Egypt  was  decided.  Sitting  in  a  back  room,  with 
lights  turned  low,  these  three  colonels,  distracted, 
overwrought,  and  thoroughly  frightened,  agreed 
that  a  mutiny  was  their  only  possible  means  of 
escape,  —  that  the  time  had  come  for  them  to 
lead  their  regiments  to  the  Khedive's  palace  and 
to  make  their  power  recognised  at  the  point  of 
the  sword. 

On  the  next  morning,  September  9,  the  3rd 
Kegiment  received  orders  to  proceed  at  once  to 
Alexandria,  it  being  the  obvious  intention  of  the 
Government  to  diminish  the  numbers  of  the  dis- 
affected troops  in  Cairo.  This  order  served  as 
the  signal  for  the  mutiny ;  and,  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Arabi,  the  troops  announced  their  intention 
of  marching  to  Abdin  Palace.  On  hearing  this  the 
Khedive  was  distracted ;  and,  mistrusting  in  this 
moment  of  despair  the  advice  of  all  his  native 
councillors,  sent  for  the  one  man  upon  whom  he 


132     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

felt  that  he  could  rely,  Sir  Auckland  Colvin,  the 
British  Controller-General  of  the  Egyptian  Debt. 
Sir  Auckland  believed  that  the  only  decent 
course  to  adopt  was  that  of  bold  opposition  to 
the  mutineers,  and  he  advised  the  Khedive  to 
put  himself  immediately  at  the  head  of  whatever 
loyal  troops  he  could  collect  and  to  await  the 
arrival  of  Arabi  in  formidable  array.  The  Khedive 
seemed  to  agree  to  this,  and  together  they  drove 
over  to  the  Abdin  barracks,  where  the  troops  were 
known  to  be  loyal.  Here  they  were  received  with 
protestations  of  fidelity ;  and  therefore  with  more 
confidence  they  drove  on  to  the  Citadel,  where 
again  the  troops  received  them  with  approval. 
As  it  was  now  mid-afternoon,  Sir  Auckland  Colvin 
advised  the  Khedive  to  march  the  loyal  troops  to 
Abdin ;  but  his  Highness,  much  elated  by  his 
apparent  popularity,  decided  that  it  would  be 
nice  to  drive  on  to  the  distant  Abbassieh  barracks 
where  Arabi  was  lodged,  in  order  to  parley  with 
the  mutineers.  This  was  done ;  but  when  they 
arrived  they  learnt,  as  everybody  knew  all  the 
time,  that  Arabi  had  already  marched  with  2500 
men  and  18  guns  to  Abdin.  The  carriage  was 
therefore  turned,  and,  by  making  a  long  detour, 
the  Khedive  and  Sir  Auckland  reached  a  back 
door  of  the  palace  without  molestation.  Hastening 
into  one  of  the  front  rooms  and  looking  through 
the  windows,  they  saw  that  the  court  in  front 
of  the  building  was  held  by  troops  in  open  square, 


Ahmed  Pasha  Arabi  133 

and  that  the  18  guns  were  trained  upon  the  palace. 
The  unwieldy  Arabi  could  be  seen  prancing  about 
on  horseback,  together  with  some  of  his  brother 
officers,  making  a  very  brave  show  in  the  light 
of  the  afternoon  sun.  Sir  Auckland  Colvin  at 
once  told  the  Khedive  that  without  delay  he  must 
come  out  into  the  square  and  face  his  enemies. 
Together,  therefore,  they  descended  the  great 
staircase  and  advanced  towards  the  mutineers. 

"  When  Arabi  presents  himself,"  whispered  Sir 
Auckland  to  his  Highness,  "  tell  him  to  give  you 
his  sword,  and  to  give  the  troops  the  order  to 
disperse.  Then  go  the  round  of  the  square  and 
address  each  regiment  separately."  In  a  few 
moments  Arabi  approached,  still  on  horseback. 
The  Khedive,  with  some  nervousness,  told  him 
to  dismount.  Arabi  awkwardly  obeyed,  and,  after 
disentangling  himself,  advanced  on  foot,  having 
with  him  several  officers  and  a  guard  with  fixed 
bayonets. 

"  Now  is  your  moment,"  said  Sir  Auckland  to 
his  Highness. 

"We  are  between  four  fires,"  said  the  Khedive, 
adding  after  a  while,  "What  can  I  do  ?  We  shall 
be  killed." 

A  painful  pause  ensued,  and  at  last  the  Khedive, 
much  agitated,  told  Arabi  to  sheath  his  sword. 
Arabi,  however,  was  himself  so  frightened  that, 
though  he  hastily  attempted  to  obey  the  order, 
his   shakinor   hands  would    not  fulfil   their   office. 


134     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

and  for  some  moments  the  point  of  his  sword 
rattled  and  blundered  aimlessly  around  the  mouth 
of  the  scabbard.  The  Khedive,  getting  control  of 
his  voice,  then  asked  what  all  the  trouble  was 
about ;  and  Arabi,  wiping  the  cold  sweat  from 
his  face,  stated  his  demands  —  namely,  that  all 
the  Ministers  should  be  dismissed,  that  a  Parlia- 
ment should  be  convoked,  and  that  the  strength 
of  the  army  should  be  increased.  These  demands 
in  actual  fact  did  not  in  any  way  represent  the 
urgent  wishes  or  needs  of  the  people,  and  it  would 
seem  that  they  had  been  formulated  without  much 
consideration  to  serve  as  a  casus  belli.  Arabi  did 
not  represent  a  patriotic  movement,  and  at  that 
time  he  was  not  popular  outside  the  disaffected 
regiments.  The  proposal  to  increase  the  strength 
of  the  army,  and  thereby  add  further  to  the  load 
of  the  tax-payer  at  a  time  when  the  country  was 
painfully  in  debt,  was  neither  wise  nor  magnani- 
mous. However,  with  troops  and  guns  facing 
them,  the  Khedive  did  not  feel  inclined  to  resist ; 
and,  turning  to  Sir  Auckland,  he  gloomily  re- 
marked,  "You  hear  what  he  says." 

Sir  Auckland  replied  somewhat  sharply  that  it 
was  not  fitting  for  the  Khedive  to  discuss  such 
questions  with  his  colonels,  and  advised  him  to 
retire  to  the  palace.  This  his  Highness  did  with 
great  promptness,  and  Sir  Auckland  Colvin  re- 
mained in  the  square  for  about  an  hour  arguing 
with  Arabi  and  his  officers.     Sir  Charles  Cookson, 


Ahmed  Pasha  Arabi  135 

the  acting  British  Consul-General,  then  arrived, 
and  the  negotiations  were  continued,  the  Khedive 
being  consulted  every  now  and  then  by  means  of 
messages. 

At  length  his  Highness  agreed  to  dismiss  his 
Ministers  and  to  refer  the  other  two  points  to  the 
Porte.  Sherif  Pasha,  chosen  by  the  mutineers,  was 
made  President  of  the  Council,  the  announcement 
being  received  with  shouts  of  "  Long  live  the 
Khedive ! "  Arabi  then  made  his  submission  to 
his  Highness,  swearing  once  more  to  be  a  loyal 
servant  of  the  throne,  and  the  troops  marched 
off  in  perfect  quietness.  The  Khedive  thereupon 
sat  down  and  telegraphed  to  Constantinople  for 
10,000  Turkish  troops  with  which  to  quell  the 
mutineers  (a  request  which  was  not  granted), 
and  Arabi,  on  his  part,  issued  a  kingly  circular 
signed  "  Colonel  Ahmed  Arabi,  representing  the 
Egyptian  army,"  assuring  the  consuls  -  general 
that  he  would  continue  to  protect  the  interests 
of  foreigners,  and  so  forth. 

Sherif  Pasha  having  agreed  to  take  office  only 
on  condition  that  the  disaffected  regiments  should 
leave  Cairo,  Arabi,  nervous  for  his  own  safety  and 
horrified  by  his  own  daring,  thought  it  would  be 
prudent  to  comply.  He  therefore  retired  to  Suez, 
and  his  colleagues  were  sent  to  Damietta.  His 
departure  from  Cairo  had  the  nature  of  a  royal 
progress  through  the  streets,  for  the  deeds  of 
September   9   had   made    him  very  popular ;    and 


136     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

at  the  railway  station  he  made  a  speech,  stating 
that  a  new  era  had  dawned  for  Egypt.  At 
Zagazig  a  fete  was  held  in  his  honour,  at  which 
about  a  thousand  persons  were  present ;  and  here 
he  made  another  speech,  urging  the  dismissal  of 
all  Europeans  in  Egyptian  Government  employ- 
ment, and  stating  that  he  had  three  regiments 
in  Cairo  which  could  be  relied  on  to  carry  out 
his  wishes.  At  about  this  time  Arabi  made  a 
long  statement  to  Sir  Auckland  Colvin,  the  tone 
of  which  was  curiously  naive  and  ignorant.  At 
great  length,  and  with  much  labour,  he  explained 
that  men  came  of  one  common  stock  and  should 
have  equal  rights,  and  that  it  was  for  equal  rights 
that  the  army  contended.  He  now  disclaimed  his 
desire  to  get  rid  of  foreigners,  explaining  that  they 
were  the  necessary  instructors  of  the  people,  and 
pointing  out  that  they  had  given  him  the  only 
schooling  he  had  ever  had.  The  impression  left 
on  the  mind  of  Sir  Auckland  by  this  declamation 
was  that  Arabi  was  a  sincere,  but  not  at  all  a 
practical,  man. 

In  the  first  week  of  January  1882  Arabi  was 
recalled  to  Cairo  and  made  Under-Secretary  for 
War,  it  being  felt  that  it  was  better  for  him  to 
belong  to  the  Government  than  to  be  outside  it ; 
whereupon  he  at  once  began  again  to  plot  against 
the  Khedive.  At  about  this  time  there  appeared 
in  '  The  Times '  a  manifesto  demanding  Egypt  for 
the   Egyptians,    and    asking    that    all   foreigners 


Ahmed  Pasha  Arabi  137 

should  be  dismissed ;  and  it  was  generally  sup- 
posed that  it  was  written  or  suggested  by  Arabi. 
Various  letters  signed  "Ahmed  the  Egyptian" 
appeared  in  the  papers,  and  people  in  England 
began  to  question  whether  Arabi  was  not,  after 
all,  a  noble  patriot. 

On  February  5  Arabi  managed  to  get  himself 
made  Minister  of  War,  and  now,  with  the  army 
at  his  back,  he  felt  that  he  could  call  himself 
virtual  ruler  of  Egypt.  He  used  his  power  in 
the  most  extravagfant  manner.  Fresh  battalions 
were  raised,  in  the  main  with  the  object  of  giving 
employment  to  the  numerous  officers  who  sup- 
ported his  cause.  Pay  was  increased  all  round, 
in  spite  of  the  desperate  financial  state  of  the 
country.  Hundreds  of  officers  were  promoted ; 
and  when  the  Khedive  remarked  that  there 
should  be  some  sort  of  examination  before  pro- 
motion, Arabi  replied,  firstly,  that  the  officers 
were  of  such  well-known  capacity  that  examina- 
tion was  unnecessary,  and  secondly,  that  they 
refused  to  be  examined.  He  declared  openly  at 
this  time  that  he  did  not  see  why  a  hereditary 
Khedivate  was  necessary,  and  that  if  the  dynasty 
were  abolished  £300,000  a  year  would  be  econo- 
mised. 

Arabi's  quarrel  with  the  Khedive  was  now  made 
more  bitter  by  the  following  occurrence.  Nineteen 
Circassian  and  Egyptian  officers,  desiring  to  rid 
themselves  of  the  colonels  of  their  regiments,  Abd' 


138     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

el  'Al  and  Arabi,  were  said  to  have  plotted  to 
disgrace  the  one  and  to  murder  the  other.  Into 
this  charge  an  ofl&cial  inquiry  had  to  be  made. 
Abd'  el  'Al  was,  as  we  have  seen,  one  of  the 
three  ringleaders  in  the  mutiny,  and  his  disgrace 
was  therefore  a  matter  which  closely  touched 
Arabi.  The  evidence  was  heard  by  a  court  of 
Egyptian  officers  on  April  2,  1882;  and,  con- 
sidering the  rivalry  and  enmity  between  the 
Circassians  and  Egyptians,  the  result  was,  of 
course,  a  foregone  conclusion.  Abd'  el  'Al  was 
shown  to  be  entirely  innocent  in  the  opinion  of 
the  court,  and  the  plot  to  murder  Arabi  was 
proved.  The  nineteen  officers,  together  with 
twenty-one  other  persons,  mostly  Turkish  or  Cir- 
cassian, including  the  late  Minister  of  War,  Osman 
Rifki,  were  sentenced  to  banishment  for  life  to 
the  remotest  part  of  the  Sudan,  a  sentence  prac- 
tically equivalent  to  that  of  death.  This  flagrant 
injustice  was  deeply  resented  by  the  Khedive,  who, 
very  rightly,  refused  to  confirm  the  sentence.  By 
his  orders  the  officers  were  removed  temporarily 
from  the  active  list  of  the  army,  and  after  a  short 
time  had  elapsed  were  reinstated. 

The  fight  between  the  Khedive  and  the  army 
led  to  the  utmost  disorder  in  the  country,  and  the 
position  of  Europeans  became  far  from  safe.  The 
maintenance  of  law  and  order  under  the  circum- 
stances was  impossible,  and  throughout  Egypt, 
murder,  robbery,  and  crime  of  all  kinds  were  rife. 


Ahmed  Pasha  Arabi  139 

This  being  so,  the  Enghsh  and  French  Consuls- 
General  advised  their  respective  Governments  to 
interfere,  and,  on  May  15,  1882,  after  prolonged 
discussion  as  to  whether  the  duty  of  restoring 
order  should  be  left  to  Turkey  (a  solution  of  the 
difficulty  strongly  advocated  by  England),  the 
Egyptian  Government  w^as  advised  that  an  Anglo- 
French  fleet  had  sailed  for  Alexandria.  Arabi  at 
once  circulated  a  statement  that  if  the  English 
and  French  were  allowed  to  interfere,  it  would 
mean  the  disbanding  of  the  army,  the  dismissal 
of  the  Ministry,  and  all  manner  of  other  troubles. 
In  reply  to  this  the  Consuls- General  on  May  25 
demanded  the  forcible  retirement  of  Arabi  from 
Egypt  for  one  year ;  but  the  only  effect  of  the 
note  was  that  Arabi  and  the  entire  Ministry  re- 
signed. On  May  28  the  chiefs  of  the  various 
religions,  Moslem,  Coptic,  Jewish,  &c.,  waited  on 
the  Khedive  and  begged  him  to  reinstate  Arabi 
as  the  Minister  of  War,  for  Arabi  had  threatened 
them  all  with  death  unless  they  persuaded  his 
Highness  to  do  so.  The  colonel  of  the  palace 
guard,  meanwhile,  stated  that  he  had  received 
orders  to  keep  his  Highness  a  prisoner  in  the 
palace,  and  to  shoot  him  if  he  attempted  to 
escape.  Under  these  circumstances  the  Khedive 
was  obliged  to  reinstate  the  rebellious  colonel. 

In  the  opinion  of  the  masses  his  return  to  office 
meant  the  expulsion  of  all  foreigners  from  Egypt, 
and  the  triumph  of  the  Egyptian  national  party ; 


140     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

and  consequently  a  number  of  outrages  against 
Christians  were  perpetrated.  The  ill -temper  of 
the  people  was  increased  by  the  arrival  of  the 
Anglo  -  French  fleets,  which  assembled  at  Alex- 
andria during  the  first  week  in  June.  A  further 
complication  ensued.  The  Sultan,  as  suzerain  of 
Egypt,  sent  over  a  Commissioner,  Dervish  Pasha, 
with  orders  to  assert  Turkish  authority.  He  was 
received  royally  at  Alexandria  on  June  7,  but  on 
his  arrival  in  Cairo  he  was  much  annoyed  by  the 
mob  of  Egyptians  who  surrounded  his  carriage  and 
shouted  the  praises  of  Arabi  in  his  ears.  Upon  the 
next  day  the  Ministers,  all  of  the  Arabi  party,  came 
to  call  upon  him  in  a  body,  but  the  Turk  received 
them  with  marked  discourtesy,  remaining  seated 
upon  the  divan  in  conversation  with  his  secretary, 
whilst  the  Egyptians  stood  awkwardly  before  him. 
Every  now  and  then  Dervish  would  smile  pleasantly 
at  them,  but  he  made  no  attempt  to  treat  them  as 
intelligent  beings.  Presently  he  asked  his  secre- 
tary to  repeat  to  him  the  tale  of  how  Mohammed 
Ali  had  rid  himself  of  the  Egyptian  Mamelukes 
who  had  annoyed  him.  The  secretary  thereupon 
related  how  they  had  all  been  beguiled  into  the 
Citadel  and  there  set  upon  and  massacred,  only 
one  escaping  by  jumping  his  horse  from  the  ram- 
parts into  the  street  below.  "  Ah,"  said  Dervish, 
turning  a  benign  face  to  the  Ministers,  "  the  man 
who  escaped  was  a  lucky  dog  " ;  and,  with  a  brief 
remark  on  the  weather,  he  dismissed  them. 


Ahmed  Pasha  Arabi  141 

On  June  10  Aiabi,  acting  through  the  Ulema 
of  Caho,  sent  a  deputation  to  the  Commissioner, 
and  a  certain  well-known  rebel  delivered  a  speech 
in  praise  of  Arabi.  But  this  was  too  much  for  the 
Turk,  who,  briefly  remarking  that  he  had  come 
to  give  instructions  and  not  to  listen  to  sermons, 
ordered  the  orator  to  be  thrown  out  of  the  room. 

Having  received  this  snub,  and  believing  that 
the  Sultan's  representative  intended  to  support  the 
Khedive  against  him,  Arabi  felt  that  the  time  had 
come  to  set  Egypt  in  a  blaze,  so  that  all  men  might 
turn  to  him  for  protection,  and  thus  his  power 
might  become  absolute.  What  drastic  step  he 
contemplated  is  not  known,  for  on  the  next  day, 
June  11,  a  terrible  event  occurred  which  brought 
matters  at  once  to  a  definite  issue. 

For  some  days  the  natives  resident  in  the  low 
quarters  of  Alexandria  had  been  showing  signs  of 
an  intended  attack  upon  Christians  living  in  the 
same  quarter.  Several  Greeks  and  Italians  had 
received  warnings,  and  the  British  Consul  had 
taken  some  steps  for  the  protection  of  British 
subjects.  The  foreign  fleets  lying  in  the  harbour 
were,  as  has  been  said,  a  further  cause  of  irrita- 
tion to  the  natives,  for  the  presence  of  the  battle- 
ships made  the  Europeans  somewhat  confident, 
and,  in  certain  cases,  oflensive.  The  morning  of 
June  11  passed  quietly,  and,  it  being  Sunday, 
the  Europeans  attended  their  churches  in  the 
customary  manner.     Early  in  the  afternoon,  how- 


142     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

ever,  a  Maltese  Greek  and  an  Arab  had  a  dispute 
about  some  money,  and  in  the  conflict  which  ensued 
the  Arab  was  stabbed  in  the  stomach.  Instantly 
a  crowd  collected,  and  a  riot  followed,  which  was 
fortunately  confined  to  certain  quarters  of  the 
town.  About  sixty  Europeans  of  the  lower  classes 
were  killed  under  circumstances  of  great  brutality ; 
and  it  is  said  that  over  a  hundred  Arabs  also  met 
their  deaths.  The  British  Consul  escaped  with  his 
life  by  a  miracle.  The  native  Governor  of  Alex- 
andria communicated  with  Cairo  and  asked  what 
he  should  do,  but  there  the  utmost  confusion 
reigned  administratively,  and  the  only  man  whose 
orders  were  listened  to,  Arabi,  was  sulking,  owing 
to  his  treatment  at  the  hands  of  the  Turkish 
Commissioner.  Arabi  seems  to  have  expressed 
his  opinion  that  he  could  stop  the  riot  by  tele- 
graph at  any  moment,  but  that  Dervish  Pasha 
must  ask  him  to  do  so ;  and  thus,  at  last,  the 
haughty  Turk  was  obliged  to  come  to  see  Arabi 
and  to  beg  him  to  issue  the  necessary  orders. 
Arabi,  quite  unmoved  by  the  loss  of  life  which 
was  momentarily  occurring,  and  caring  only  for 
his  personal  prestige,  loftily  consented  to  put  an 
end  to  the  riot.  He  telegraphed  to  the  Governor 
to  call  out  the  troops,  who  had  until  now  remained 
in  barracks,  and  immediately  the  mob  dispersed. 

Mr  Farman,  an  American  judge,  at  that  time 
resident  in  Alexandria,  describes  how  he  walked 
down  from  his  hotel  to  the  Place  Mohammed  Ali, 


Ahmed  Pasha  Arabi  143 

after  the  troops  had  been  called  out,  to  learn  what 
was  happening  ;  but  he  saw  only  a  few  persons 
dispersing  before  the  military.  In  his  published 
account  of  these  events  he  makes  light  of  the 
affair,  and  says  that  for  three  days  afterwards 
no  one  termed  it  anything  other  than  a  lament- 
able and  serious  riot,  commenced  by  a  foreigner. 
It  was  the  papers,  he  declares,  which  worked  it 
up  into  a  "massacre,"  Mr  Charles  Royle,  an 
English  judge,  however,  is  of  a  very  different 
opinion ;  and  his  description  of  the  fighting,  or 
rather  of  the  murders,  in  the  streets  is  gruesome 
in  the  extreme.  Be  this  as  it  may,  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  the  blame  is  to  be  attributed,  in- 
directly if  not  directly,  to  Arabi.  It  was  he  who 
had  instigated  the  natives  to  acts  of  lawlessness, 
and  who  had  inculcated  in  them  those  anti-foreign 
sentiments  which  found  vent  in  the  riot.  He  must 
have  known  the  trend  of  events  in  Alexandria,  and 
it  would  seem  that  he  had  almost  purposely  re- 
frained from  instructing  the  Governor  and  the 
troops  as  to  how  to  act  in  the  event  of  trouble. 
Arabi  here  showed  himself  to  be  a  stupid,  ignorant 
peasant,  without  foresight  and  without  magna- 
nimity ;  and  that  he  did  not  hang  for  his  mis- 
deeds was  due  only  to  the  forbearance  of  the 
British  public. 

On  the  night  following  the  riot  many  of  the 
European  residents  collected  in  the  consulates, 
where  they  passed  the  long  hours  in  painful  sus- 


144     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

pense.  It  was  agreed  that  it  would  be  most 
inadvisable  to  land  any  force  from  the  battle- 
ships, for  a  general  massacre  might  ensue,  and 
the  three  or  four  hundred  available  bluejackets 
and  marines  would  not  be  able  to  protect  more 
than  a  limited  number  of  the  Christian  popu- 
lation. The  next  morning,  however,  tranquillity 
was  restored,  and  the  Europeans,  who  immediately 
began  to  seek  refuge  on  the  ships  in  the  harbour, 
were  not  molested  as  they  made  their  way  to  the 
docks.  The  exodus  both  from  Cairo  and  from 
Alexandria  soon  became  very  general,  although 
the  peace  of  the  former  city  had  not  been  dis- 
turbed ;  and  during  the  next  three  weeks  or  so 
the  Alexandria  sea-front  is  said  to  have  presented 
a  most  lively  spectacle.  The  men-o'-war  lying  in 
the  harbour  with  flags  flying,  the  steamers  and 
sailing-ships  of  all  nationalities  surrounded  by 
small  craft,  the  rowing-  and  sailing-boats  passing 
to  and  fro  between  the  quays  and  this  crowded 
fleet  of  vessels,  presented  in  the  brilliant  June 
weather  a  most  cheery  and  animated  scene.  The 
native  boatmen  haggled  and  bargained,  jested  and 
laughed,  with  the  refugees,  as  though  the  events 
of  June  1 1  had  never  occurred. 

Meanwhile  an  attempt  was  made  to  bring  the 
ringleaders  of  the  riot  to  justice ;  but  Arabi, 
choosing  to  believe  that  the  fault  lay  as  much 
on  the  one  side  as  on  the  other,  declared  that 
he    would   not   allow   any   Arab   to   be   executed 


Ahmed  Pasha  Arabi  145 

unless,  for  every  one,  a  European  was  also 
hanged.  Shortly  after  this  the  Sultan  sent 
Arabi  the  grand  cordon  of  the  Order  of  the 
Medjidieh,  in  recognition  of  the  services  he  had 
rendered  to  Islam  ;  and  the  Order  had  to  be 
handed  personally  to  him  by  the  Khedive. 

Egyptian  hostility  to  foreigners  had  now  reached 
a  most  dangerous  pitch,  and  Arabi  was  carried 
along  by  the  wave  of  warlike  enthusiasm  which  he 
himself  had  done  so  much  to  arouse.  He  was 
aware  that  the  French  and  English  Governments, 
mistrusting  one  another,  were  hesitating  to  decide 
upon  a  course  of  action,  and  that  the  proposal  to 
introduce  Turkish  troops  into  Egypt  was  not 
likely  to  be  put  into  execution.  He  felt  a  pro- 
found contempt  for  the  European  fleets,  under 
whose  very  guns  the  Alexandria  riots  had  taken 
place.  Moreover,  there  were  certain  Englishmen 
of  unbalanced  mind  who,  posing  as  his  friends, 
pretended  that  they  had  great  influence  with  the 
British  public,  always  ready  as  it  was  to  support  a 
patriotic  movement.  They  had  induced  Arabi  to 
write  letters  to  the  papers  full  of  nationalist 
fervour,  and  had  done  their  utmost  to  arouse  in 
the  rustic  mind  of  the  mutinous  colonel  those 
patriotic  sentiments  which  were  so  foreign  to  his 
nature.  Patriotism  is  an  intellectual  pursuit,  un- 
known to  those  who  lack  education, —  for  the 
sentiment  which  so  often  passes  as  patriotism 
both  in  Egypt  and  elsewhere  is  simply  ignorant 

K 


n 


146     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

dislike  of  the  foreigner.  Arabi  was  not  a  patriot ; 
he  was  a  hater  of  Europeans.  He  did  not  care  a 
brass  farthing  about  his  country  as  a  whole,  he 
did  not  work  to  make  better  the  lot  of  the  masses. 
He  blindly  plotted  and  schemed  and  intrigued  and 
mutinied  in  order  to  place  in  the  hands  of  himself 
and  his  friends  the  power  to  act  as  he  might 
choose.  He  had  no  definite  schemes  in  view :  he 
talked  vaguely  of  deposing  the  Khedive,  of  calling 
a  parliament,  of  expelling  all  foreigners,  and  so 
forth  ;  but  he  knew  not,  either  by  experience  or 
by  consecutive  thought,  what  would  be  the  result 
of  his  enterprises.  Let  him  get  power :  that  was 
all.  Lord  Cromer  has  recorded  his  belief  that, 
during  the  first  stages  of  the  revolt,  Arabi  was 
impelled  simply  by  fear  for  his  personal  safety  ; 
but  now  he  was  urged  forward  by  sheer  joy  in 
the  possession  of  power,  a  form  of  intoxication 
against  which  his  simple  mind  was  in  no  way 
proof. 

Defying  the  fleets  in  the  harbour,  Arabi  now 
prepared  for  war  by  strengthening  the  fortresses 
at  Alexandria  and  by  attempting  to  institute  a 
general  conscription  for  the  army.  The  Sultan, 
acting  in  agreement  with  the  British  and  French 
Governments,  ordered  Dervish  Pasha  to  stay 
Arabi's  hand ;  but  on  July  5,  at  a  Council  of 
Ministers,  Arabi  made  a  violent  speech  against 
the  Turks,  and  commanded  the  officers  of  the 
Egyptian  army  to  discontinue  all  communication 


m  i 


AHMED    PASHA    ARABI. 


Ahmed  Pasha  Arabi  147 

with  the  Sultan's  representative.  Thus  his 
quarrel  now  was  not  only  with  the  Khedive  and 
with  the  European  Powers  who  wished,  for  the 
sake  of  law  and  order,  to  support  his  Highness, 
but  also  with  the  Porte.  He  had  played  his  cards 
as  badly  as  was  to  be  expected  of  him,  and  with 
the  army  at  his  back  he  now  turned  blindly  to 
face  the  consequences  of  his  folly. 

When  Admiral  Seymour,  who  was  in  command 
of  the  British  fleet,  became  aware  that  the  fortifi- 
cations opposite  his  ships  were  being  strengthened, 
and  that  guns  were  being  mounted,  he  conferred 
with  the  French  Admiral,  both  telegraphing  to 
their  Governments  for  instructions.  The  British 
Government,  until  now  most  averse  to  meddling 
with  Egyptian  matters,  advocated  a  bombardment, 
but  the  French  Government  strongly  disapproved 
of  this  course,  and  for  some  days  an  animated 
discussion  was  kept  up.  At  last,  however,  the 
British  Government,  realising  the  seriousness  of 
the  situation,  telegraphed  to  Admiral  Seymour 
instructing  him  to  bombard  the  forts  unless  the 
strengthening  works  therein  were  abandoned. 
"  Before  taking  any  hostile  step,"  said  the  tele- 
gram, "  invite  co-operation  of  French  Admiral ; 
but  you  are  not  to  postpone  acting  on  your  in- 
structions because  French  decline  to  join." 

On  July  10  Admiral  Seymour  informed  the 
Military  Commandant  of  Alexandria  that  unless 
the    fortresses    were    temporarily   surrendered    to 


148     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

him  for  the  purpose  of  disarmament,  he  would 
bombard  them  on  the  next  morning.  He  received 
an  unsatisfactory  reply,  and  consequently  informed 
the  French  of  his  intentions.  The  Gallic  Admiral 
thereupon  ordered  the  ships  under  his  command  to 
withdraw  to  Port  Said,  and  at  the  same  time  all 
the  foreign  vessels  took  their  departure.  As  each 
one  steamed  past  the  British  jftagship  in  the  light 
of  the  sunset,  Admiral  Seymour's  band  played 
the  national  anthem  of  the  departing  vessel  ; 
and  thus,  with  the  most  pleasant  international 
courtesies,  the  foreign  fleets  left  England  to  solve 
the  Egyptian  question.  When  darkness  fell  the 
British  men-o'-war  alone  remained  on  the  scene. 

There  were  still  a  number  of  lower  -  class 
Europeans  left  in  Alexandria,  and  these  fortified 
themselves  in  the  consulates  and  other  buildings. 
All  the  remaining  British  residents,  with  two  or 
three  exceptions,  betook  themselves  to  the  P.  &  O. 
ss.  Tayijoi^e,  and  Sir  Auckland  Colvin  and  other 
high  ofiicials  went  quietly  on  board  a  battleship 
during  the  afternoon. 

On  the  next  morning  the  natives  began  to  leave 
the  city  in  enormous  numbers ;  and  just  before 
7  A.M.,  when  the  watering-carts  were  sprinkling 
the  streets  and  the  incredulous  howahs  were  yawn- 
ing and  smoking  their  early  cigarettes,  a  warning 
bell  was  rung  and  a  signal  shot  was  fired.  Im- 
mediately the  bombardment  commenced.  Arabi 
had    stationed    himself    in    the   Arsenal    at   the 


Ahmed  Pasha  Arabi  149 

Ministry  of  Marine,  but  as  soon  as  the  shells 
began  to  fall  in  that  quarter  he  moved  over  to 
certain  fortifications  which,  being  behind  a  hill, 
were  less  exposed.  The  Khedive,  meanwhile, 
remained  in  his  summer  palace  at  Kamleh,  a  few 
miles  outside  the  city ;  and  during  the  day  he 
continued  in  constant  communication  with  Arabi, 
sending  through  him  encouraging  messages  to  the 
Egyptian  troops  who  were  working  the  guns  in 
the  fortresses  with  considerable  courage.  The 
fire  from  the  men-o'-war  was  murderous,  and  it 
was  not  long  before  the  Egyptian  response  began 
to  be  silenced.  By  noon  only  two  forts,  Adda 
and  Pharos,  were  still  offering  resistance.  The 
British  sailors  seem  to  have  had  the  time  of  their 
lives,  for  there  were  hardly  any  casualties  on  our 
side,  and  the  forts  made  most  interesting  targets. 
Light-hearted  messages  were  exchanged  between 
the  ships,  as  though  the  whole  affair  was  a  pleasant 
game.  The  Sultan,  for  example,  signalled  to  the 
Inflexible  about  noon :  "If  you  happen  to  be 
steaming  in  the  direction  of  Adda  and  Pharos, 
one  or  two  shells  from  your  heavy  guns  would  do 
much  good,  if  you  don't  mind."  At  1.30  p.m.  the 
same  vessel  signalled  to  the  Superb :  "  Can  you 
touch  up  Pharos  a  bit  ? " 

The  firing  continued  all  day,  and,  as  may  be 
imagined,  the  havoc  wrought  amongst  the 
Egyptian  troops  was  very  terrible.  The  towns- 
people, meanwhile,  amused  themselves  by  looting 


150     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

the  shops ;  and  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that 
several  Europeans  were  killed  by  the  angry  mob, 
who,  however,  made  no  serious  attempts  to 
massacre  the  foreigners  in  the  consulates.  The 
refugees  in  the  Danish  consulate  were  at  one 
time  in  considerable  danger,  but  a  shell  which 
burst  near  by,  killing  three  natives,  dispersed  the 
mob.  The  German  Hospital,  wherein  numerous 
Europeans  were  collected,  was  attacked  by  the 
natives,  but  one  of  the  inmates  having  produced  a 
revolver,  the  invaders  discreetly  retired.  The 
famous  Hotel  Abbat  was  saved  from  looting  by 
the  presence  of  mind  of  the  native  caretaker.  As 
soon  as  the  mob  began  to  batter  at  the  door  the 
Egyptian  uttered  a  string  of  the  most  frightful 
British  oaths,  which  at  various  times  he  had  learnt 
from  Jack  Tar.  Immediately  the  looters  stopped 
short,  and,  crying  out  "  There  are  English  gentle- 
men here,"  fled  down  the  street. 

At  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening  the  Khedive 
sent  for  Arabi  and  had  some  consultation  with 
him,  and  Arabi  explained  that  the  forts  were  all 
destroyed.  Negotiations  were  therefore  opened 
with  the  British  Admiral,  who,  early  next  morn- 
ing, declared  that  unless  he  was  allowed  peaceably 
to  land  his  men  at  three  points  he  would  re- 
commence the  bombardment  at  2  p.m.  Arabi  at 
once  began  to  argue  the  matter,  until,  nothing 
being  settled,  the  vessels  were  obliged  to  open  fire 
once   more.       Arabi,    fearing   that    the    Khedive 


Ahmed  Pasha  Arabi  151 

might  communicate  with  the  fleet,  now  decided  to 
make  him  a  prisoner,  and  therefore  sent  400  men 
to  surround  the  palace,  at  the  same  time  dis- 
tributing a  sum  of  £2000  amongst  the  loyal 
Bedouin  who  had  appointed  themselves  the 
Khedive's  protectors,  and  showed  some  signs  of 
actually  protecting  him.  This  bribe  induced 
them  to  retire,  and  for  several  hours  his  Highness 
was  surrounded  by  troops  who,  for  all  he  knew, 
might  have  had  orders  to  murder  him.  It  was  a 
trying  position  for  him,  and  he  is  said  to  have 
shown  great  fortitude  under  the  strain.  In  the 
afternoon  Arabi  decided  to  retreat  from  Alex- 
andria, and,  leaving  250  men  to  keep  the  Khedive 
prisoner,  he  marched  out  of  the  city  with  all  his 
troops,  taking  up  his  position  ultimately  at  a  point 
some  miles  inland.  The  250  men  at  once  declared 
their  loyalty  to  his  Highness,  and  communication 
was  established  between  the  palace  and  the 
British  Admiral. 

Meanwhile  looting  went  on  steadily,  and  when 
the  troops  began  to  retreat  the  natives  indulged 
in  the  maddest  orgies  of  plundering  ere  they,  too, 
fled  from  the  city.  Men  were  seen  staggering 
along  the  roads  carrying  enormous  gilt  -  framed 
mirrors,  or  plush  and  gilt  pieces  of  furniture, 
upon  their  backs ;  others  were  burdened  with 
heavy  clocks  and  vases ;  and  yet  others  were  half- 
smothered  beneath  enormous  bundles  of  valuable 
clothes.       Turkish    and    Egyptian    women    flying 


152     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

towards  the  interior  were  robbed  of  their  jewellery 
and  were  outraged  on  the  public  roads.  At  the 
gates  of  the  city  the  looters  were  met  by  Bedouin 
marauders,  who  fought  them  for  the  spoil,  and 
scenes  of  the  wildest  confusion  ensued. 

Either  by  the  orders  of  Arabi  or  at  the  instiga- 
tion of  the  ringleaders  of  the  mob,  the  city  was 
now  set  on  fire.  Stores  of  paraffin  having  been 
looted,  the  oil  was  poured  in  all  directions  and 
lighted,  with  the  result  that  very  soon  the  city 
was  in  flames.  All  night  long  the  conflagration 
raged,  and  by  the  next  morning  it  became  nec- 
essary for  the  Europeans  still  confined  in  the 
consulates  to  break  their  way  through  to  the  sea. 
They  found  the  streets  deserted,  and  had  no 
difficulty  in  securing  boats,  in  which  they  rowed 
out  to  the  fleet. 

The  Khedive  now  informed  Admiral  Seymour 
that  he  wished  to  take  up  his  residence  at  the 
palace  of  E-as-el-Tin,  which  stands  on  a  promontory 
of  land  near  the  harbour.  His  Highness  would 
here  be  under  the  protection  of  the  fleet,  and 
could  easily  steam  out  to  them  in  his  launch 
should  the  fire  or  the  mob  attack  the  palace  in 
the  rear.  The  Admiral  approved  of  this  move, 
and  the  Khedive  therefore  drove  into  the  city, 
avoiding  by  a  detour  the  areas  already  in  flames, 
and  passing  on  his  way  several  retreating  gangs 
of  plunderers.  At  the  palace  he  was  met  by  a 
force  of  bluejackets,  who,  however,   were  not   of 


Ahmed  Pasha  Arabi  153 

sufficient  strength  to  penetrate  into  the   city  to 
fight  the  flames. 

On  the  next  day,  the  14th,  as  many  men  as 
could  be  spared  were  landed  in  the  city ;  and  on 
the  following  day  reinforcements  arrived  from 
Malta,  these  being  quickly  landed.  Conflagrations 
continued,  however,  until  the  17th;  but  on  the 
18th  the  work  of  clearing  the  remains  of  the  city 
commenced,  the  post-office  was  reopened,  several 
looters  caught  in  the  act  were  summarily  dealt 
with,  one  being  shot,  and  some  semblance  of  order 
was  established.  On  the  16th  some  200  Bedouin 
of  the  desert — those  lords  of  romance  and  adven- 
ture— made  a  determined  attempt  to  loot  a  num- 
ber of  buildings  which  still  remained  undamaged. 
They  had,  however,  only  succeeded  in  capturing  a 
donkey,  when  a  small  midshipman  appeared  before 
them  with  five  or  six  bluejackets,  shot  two  of  their 
number  with  his  revolver,  and  chased  the  remainder 
headlong  out  of  the  city.  Incidentally  a  remark 
of  another  young  midshipman  may  here  be  re- 
corded. After  he  had  marched  about  the  smoulder- 
ing ruins  of  the  town  all  day,  and  had  tried  in 
vain  amongst  the  looted  shops  to  expend  some  of 
his  accumulated  pocket-money  in  making  purchases 
from  the  returning  tradesmen,  he  was  asked  by  his 
superior  officer  what  he  thought  of  the  inferno 
that  had  once  been  Alexandria.  "  Oh,"  he  replied, 
"  the  place  is  nice  enough  ;  the  only  thing  is,  jam 
is  so  dear." 


154     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

Arabi,  as  has  been  said,  had  entrenched  himself 
at  a  village  several  miles  inland,  and  he  was 
reported  to  have  with  him  a  force  of  over  6000 
men.  On  the  17th  Commander  Maude  rode  up 
to  within  300  yards  of  his  entrenchments  and  had 
a  good  look  at  them ;  but  the  British  forces  had 
yet  no  reason  to  make  an  attack  upon  the  position. 
Behind  the  entrenchments  the  railway  in  Cairo 
stood  intact,  and  Arabi  was  able  to  move  freely 
between  the  two  points.  In  Cairo  there  was  con- 
siderable excitement,  and  in  several  smaller  towns 
Europeans  were  murdered.  Arabi  rapidly  gathered 
a  large  army,  his  methods  of  recruiting  being 
described  as  "  unscrupulous  and  barbarous."  On 
the  21st  the  Egyptians  dammed  the  canals  which 
supplied  Alexandria  with  drinking  water,  and  later 
let  salt  water  into  the  channels.  This  led  to 
fighting  between  Arabi's  army  and  the  British 
troops,  which  were  now  arriving  in  considerable 
numbers,  and  it  decided  the  home  Government 
to  despatch  a  large  force  to  Egypt,  with  Turkish 
consent,  France  having  refused  to  co-operate.  On 
the  22nd  the  Khedive  issued  a  decree  declaring 
Arabi  a  rebel  and  traitor ;  but  the  authorities  in 
Cairo  replied  with  a  decree  confirming  him  in  his 
office  of  Commander-in-Chief  and  Minister  of  War. 

Desultory  fighting  continued  for  the  next  fort- 
night, while  the  British  expeditionary  force — sent 
with  most  remarkable  reluctance  by  the  home 
Government  —  was   landing   at   Alexandria.      On 


Ahmed  Pasha  Arabi  155 

August  10  the  whole  Brigade  of  Guards  arrived, 
and  marched  through  the  streets  out  to  Ramleh, 
the  Duke  of  Connaught  riding  at  their  head.  The 
Egyptians,  accustomed  to  their  own  somewhat 
slovenly  troops,  were  filled  with  awe  at  the 
magnificent  bearing  of  these  picked  men,  and 
reports  of  their  might  were  conveyed  to  Arabi's 
unfortunate  soldiers,  troubling  them  much  as  they 
lay  behind  their  entrenchments.  On  August  15 
Sir  Garnet  Wolseley  arrived  to  take  up  his  com- 
mand, and  after  making  a  hasty  study  of  the 
position  of  the  enemy,  he  ordered  the  entire  army 
to  embark  on  the  waiting  transports,  giving  out 
that  he  intended  to  land  at  Aboukir,  a  short  way 
along  the  coast.  In  the  afternoon  of  the  19th 
the  ships  steamed  out  of  the  harbour,  and  the 
sun  rose  next  morning  revealing  to  the  Alex- 
andrians a  deserted  sea. 

Opposite  Aboukir  a  number  of  battleships 
anchored  and  went  through  the  pretence  of  clear- 
ing for  action.  The  Egyptian  troops,  entirely 
deceived,  concentrated  on  the  sea -shore  and  in 
the  forts,  awaiting  anxiously  the  opening  of  a 
bombardment ;  but  when  night  fell  the  ships 
moved  off,  and  hurried  after  the  transports,  which 
in  reality  were  steaming  hard  for  Port  Said. 

Now"  it  will  be  remembered  that  the  French 
fleet  had  retired  to  Port  Said  before  the  bombard- 
ment of  Alexandria ;  and  the  presence  of  these 
vessels  at  this  headquarters  of  the  French  Suez 


156     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

Canal  Company,  which  was  presided  over  by  the 
eminent  engineer  but  violent  Anglophobe,  Monsieur 
de  Lesseps,  had  turned  the  town  into  a  Gallic 
stronghold.  The  sympathies  of  de  Lesseps  were 
entirely  with  Arabi,  and  the  fear  that  the  English 
might  occupy  what  he  considered  as  his  canal  led 
him  to  make  a  very  hearty  attempt  to  prevent 
such  an  event.  The  question  as  to  whether  the 
Canal  should  remain  neutral  or  not  was  argued 
with  passion  in  the  French  newspapers  ;  and  the 
feeling  was  general  that,  as  an  international  ex- 
plosion of  the  utmost  magnitude  might  be  expected 
if  the  English  appeared  at  Port  Said,  such  a 
manoeuvre  was  altogether  out  of  the  question. 
De  Lesseps  at  one  time  telegraphed  to  Arabi : 
"Jamais  les  Anglais  n'y  penetreront — jamais, 
jamais ! "  to  which  Arabi  replied :  "  Sincere 
thanks  ;  assurances  consolatory,  but  not  sufficient 
under  existing  circumstances,"  and  he  went  on  to 
say  that  he  would  probably  be  obliged  to  destroy 
the  canal,  which  communication  must  have  sent 
the  excitable  de  Lesseps  into  paroxysms  of  rage. 

But  while  the  British  fleet  and  the  transports 
were  steaming  on  through  the  darkness  of  the 
night  of  the  19th-20th,  those  British  battleships 
which  had  already  arrived  at  Port  Said  carried 
out  a  daring  coup,  which  formed  an  essential  part 
of  Sir  Garnet  Wolseley's  plan  of  campaign.  At 
3.30  A.M.  two  companies  of  seamen  and  one  of 
marines   from  the   Monarch,    and   a   small  naval 


Ahmed  Pasha  Arabi  157 

force  and  a  company  of  marines  from  the  Iris, 
with  two  GatHng  guns,  were  landed  in  the  profound- 
est  silence.  So  stealthily  were  the  boats  rowed 
ashore  that  the  sentries  on  the  French  battleship 
La  Gallissoniere,  moored  to  the  same  buoy  as  the 
Monarch,  did  not  give  the  alarm,  and  did  not 
know  till  daylight  what  had  happened.  The 
British  force  surrounded  the  Egyptian  Government 
barracks,  and  in  complete  silence  the  native 
garrison  was  made  to  surrender.  The  seamen 
then  so  planted  themselves  that  they  divided  the 
native  town  from  the  European,  and,  by  the  nar- 
rowness of  the  sandbank  upon  which  the  town  is 
built,  were  able  to  coop  up  the  Egyptians  in  their 
own  quarter.  Other  troops,  meanwhile,  quietly 
took  possession  of  the  offices  of  the  Suez  Canal 
Company ;  and  a  midshipman,  not  more  than 
fifteen  years  of  age,  was  sent  with  a  few  blue- 
jackets to  occupy  the  Company's  telegraph  station. 
In  the  early  morning  the  pompous  French  Tele- 
graph Agent  arrived,  as  usual,  at  his  office,  but 
was  stopped  at  the  door  by  the  minute  midship- 
man, who  said  politely  in  French  that  he  was 
not  allowed  to  enter.  "  Qui  etes-vous  ?  "  cried 
the  official,  staring  in  furious  amazement  at  this 
boy  with  the  enormous  revolver  in  his  hand. 
"Que  voulez-vous  ici?"  The  midshipman  drew 
himself  up.  "  Je  suis  ici,"  he  said  sternly,  "  pour 
empecher  le  monde  d'entrer "  ;  and  the  infuriated 
Frenchman  was  obliged  to  remain  outside. 


158     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

During  the  same  night  another  force  was  landed 
at  the  railway  junction  of  Nefiche,  a  short  dis- 
tance up  the  canal ;  and  thus  the  French  officials 
woke  up,  rubbing  their  eyes,  to  find  the  audacious 
English,  who  really  had  no  manners  at  all,  in 
possession  of  the  town  and  waterway.  In  the 
morning  the  fleet  of  transports  arrived  and  passed 
into  the  canal,  whose  officials  could  only  retaliate 
by  refusing  them  the  aid  of  the  pilots.  The  canal 
dues  were  punctiliously  paid  by  the  British  Gov- 
ernment to  the  Canal  Company,  and  the  ships 
were  successfully  navigated  by  their  own  officers. 
Ismailia  was  the  important  station  to  seize,  for 
it  is  from  this  point  that  the  direct  road  to  Cairo 
led  out ;  and  here  the  main  part  of  the  army  was 
landed.  M.  de  Lesseps,  from  his  office  at  Ismailia, 
sullenly  watched  the  immense  fleet  of  transports 
defile  before  him ;  and  when  the  troops  began  to 
disembark  he  is  said  to  have  taken  up  his  position 
on  the  quay,  crying  out  that  no  English  soldier 
should  land  except  over  his  dead  body.  A  blue- 
jacket, however,  quietly  pushed  him  aside,  remark- 
ing, "  We  don't  want  no  dead  bodies  about  here, 
sir ;  all  you've  got  to  do  is  to  step  back  a  bit." 

Thus  with  sublime  indiflerence  to  French  oppo- 
sition, and  in  the  teeth  of  an  army  of  some  7000 
to  10,000  Egyptians  which  had  rapidly  collected 
behind  Ismailia,  the  British  expeditionary  force 
was  landed.  Three  weeks  later  the  troops  had 
come  in  touch  with  Arabi's  main  army,  which  had 


Ahmed  Pasha  Arabi  159 

entrenched  itself  in  the  desert  at  Tel-el-Kebir, 
a  village  on  the  road  from  Ismailia  to  Cairo. 

The  Egyptian  position  was  a  strong  one,  and 
Sir  Garnet  Wolseley  decided  that  it  would  be  best 
to  make  a  night  attack  upon  it.  This  was  done, 
and  just  before  dawn  on  September  13  the  British 
forces,  consisting  of  11,000  infantry  and  2000 
cavalry,  silently  marched  towards  the  Egyptian 
redoubts,  guided  by  the  stars.  They  approached 
to  within  a  few  hundred  yards  of  the  entrench- 
ments without  being  detected,  for  it  was  Arabi's 
somewhat  original  custom  to  call  in  his  sentries 
at  sunset.  At  last,  however,  the  Egyptians  were 
aroused,  and  poured  a  heavy  rifle -fire  into  the 
darkness  before  them.  With  a  rousing  cheer  the 
British  troops  charged  straight  at  the  earthworks, 
and  twenty  minutes  later  the  whole  Egyptian 
army  was  in  headlong  flight.  Arabi,  who  was  in 
bed  at  the  time,  afterwards  bitterly  complained 
that  the  English  had  not  given  him  time  even  to 
put  his  boots  on,  and  he  was  obliged  to  fly  bare- 
footed across  the  desert  to  the  nearest  railway 
station,  where  he  caught  a  train  for  Cairo. 

Sir  Garnet  Wolseley  at  once  issued  orders  that 
the  fugitives  were  to  be  followed  up  by  the  cav- 
alry, but  that  the  chase  was  not  to  be  made  too 
sanguinary.  Tommy  Atkins  has  a  kindly  heart, 
and  he  had  no  wish  to  murder  the  wretched 
Egyptians  who  were  racing  madly  before  him. 
The  pursuit,  thus,  is  said  to  have  been  at  times 


i6o     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

the  most  ludicrous  spectacle.  On  overtaking  a 
flying  Egyptian,  the  troopers  in  most  cases  would 
give  him  a  sounding  smack  on  the  seat  of  his 
trousers  with  the  flat  of  the  sabre,  and  thus  would 
speed  him  on  his  way. 

Two  small  cavalry  contingents  were  now  sent 
forward,  one  to  capture  the  town  of  Zagazig  and 
the  other  to  take  Cairo.  The  former  contingent 
trotted  briskly  to  the  outskirts  of  the  town,  and 
then  galloped  forward  in  a  straggling  line,  those 
best  mounted  arriving  first.  Two  officers  and  six 
troopers  were  the  first  to  enter  the  narrow  streets, 
and  these  eight  men  at  once  clattered  up  to  the 
station  through  crowds  of  natives  ;  and  there  they 
found  five  train -loads  of  fugitive  Egyptian  troops 
about  to  start  for  Cairo.  One  of  the  officers  shot 
the  engine-driver  of  the  foremost  train,  and  there- 
upon all  the  soldiers  either  surrendered  to  the 
eight  perspiring  Englishmen,  or  else,  throwing 
away  their  arms,  ran  for  their  lives.  The  Cairo 
contingent  rode  hard  all  day,  and  arrived  at  the 
metropolis  on  the  afternoon  of  the  next  day, 
the  14th. 

When  Arabi  reached  Cairo  he  was  in  a  state 
of  complete  exhaustion.  "It  is  all  finished,"  he 
muttered  as  he  collapsed  into  a  chair;  and,  with 
the  tears  pouring  down  his  cheeks,  he  told  those 
around  him  that  they  might  expect  the  British 
forces  to  reach  the  capital  in  three  or  four  days. 
Nevertheless  some  steps  were  taken  for  the  city's 


Ahmed  Pasha  Arabi  i6i 

defence,  and  the  digging  of  trenches  was  com- 
menced. But  in  the  afternoon  of  the  14th  the 
above-mentioned  British  force  appeared  in  sight. 
The  trench-digging  was  at  once  abandoned,  and 
10,000  Egyptian  infantry  surrendered  to  the 
advance  -  guard  of  fifty  exhausted  Englishmen. 
As  soon  as  darkness  had  fallen,  about  140  officers 
and  men  under  Major  (afterwards  Sir)  Charles 
Watson  rode  boldly  up  to  the  gates  of  the 
Citadel  and  there  demanded  the  surrender  of 
the  garrison  and  the  keys  of  the  fortress.  The 
Egyptian  commandant  had  gone  to  bed,  and  there 
was  some  delay  in  arousing  him ;  but  at  last  he 
appeared.  Believing  the  whole  British  army  to 
have  arrived,  he  speedily  surrendered,  and  for 
the  next  three  hours  the  Egyptian  garrison  of 
about  6000  men  filed  through  the  gates  and  dis- 
persed into  the  city  below.  Major  Watson  then 
took  over  the  vast  fortress  with  his  handful  of 
men  and  quietly  locked  the  gates.  Another 
Egyptian  force,  meanwhile,  was  garrisoned  in  a 
small  fort  on  the  top  of  the  neighbouring  hills  ; 
and  nobody  could  decide  in  what  manner  they 
were  to  be  dislodged,  for  no  troops  could  be  spared, 
and,  indeed,  they  were  too  exhausted  to  set  out 
on  any  further  expedition.  At  last,  however,  a 
bright  idea  occurred  to  Major  Watson.  Sending 
for  one  of  the  Egyptian  officers  who  had  been 
retained  as  an  interpreter,  he  casually  asked  him 
if  he  would  mind  just  going  up  to  the  fort,  turning 

L 


1 62     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

the  garrison  out,  and  bringing  back  the  keys. 
The  Egyptian  scratched  his  head  for  a  moment 
or  two,  and  then,  with  a  cheery  "  Very  well,  sir," 
went  off  on  his  errand.  Two  hours  later  he 
returned  with  the  keys,  and  stated  that  he  had 
dismissed  the  garrison  and  had  safely  locked  up 
the  place !  Major  Watson,  having  thanked  him 
kindly  for  his  trouble,  told  him  to  go  home  to 
bed,  which  he  promptly  did. 

Major  Watson  then  calmly  rode  into  Cairo, 
accompanied  by  two  Egyptian  officers  who  had 
surrendered.  One  of  these,  feeling  cold,  asked 
whether  a  detour  might  be  made  so  that  he  might 
pass  his  home  and  get  his  coat.  Major  Watson 
agreed,  and  the  three  men  made  their  way 
through  a  large  number  of  deserted  streets,  at 
last  coming  out  into  the  Esbekieh  in  the  centre 
of  the  city,  where  all  was  peaceful  and  silent ; 
and  having  thus  ridden  until  daybreak  and  shown 
himself  to  a  considerable  number  of  people,  he 
returned  to  the  Citadel,  leaving  in  the  streets  the 
general  impression  that  the  city  was  occupied  in  all 
quarters  by  British  troops.  On  his  return  he  found 
that  Arabi  had  given  himself  up  during  the  night. 

The  rapid  seizure  of  the  Citadel  prevented  Arabi 
carrying  out  a  scheme  which  he  is  said  to  have 
been  determined  to  put  into  execution.  He  had 
decided  to  burn  this  ancient  city  as  Alexandria 
had  been  burned,  not  to  bring  destruction  on  the 
invaders  as  in  the  case  of  the  burning  of  Moscow, 


Ahmed  Pasha  Arabi  163 

but  to  satisfy  some  barbarous  instinct  which  the 
events   of  the   last    few   weeks    had   so   strongly- 
roused  in  him.     But  when  he  was  informed  that 
the  British  had  already  arrived,  he  decided  that 
the  best  thing  to  do  was  to  bend  the  knee  to 
them.      He  therefore   published   a   statement  ex- 
plaining what  nice  kind  people  the  English  were, 
and  forthwith  surrendered  to  them.     On  Septem- 
ber 25  the  Khedive,  accompanied  by  the  Duke  of 
Connaught,  Sir  Garnet  Wolseley,  and  the  British 
Consul-General,  made  their  state   entry  into  the 
city,  the  streets  being  lined  with  British  troops. 
Arabi  was   speedily   put  upon    his    trial ;    and, 
although   Egyptian  law  does  not  permit  a  rebel 
to  have  counsel,  a  section  of  the  English  public 
insisted    that    he   should   be    defended,   and   they 
sent  out  by  public  subscription  two  barristers  to 
conduct  his  case.      Moreover,  the  home  Govern- 
ment appointed  an  English  delegate  to  watch  the 
trial  and  to  see  that  the  old  rebel  had  fair-play. 
At  first  no  one  supposed  that  Arabi  would  escape 
with  his  life ;  but  presently  it  dawned  upon  the 
bewildered  court  that  British  public  opinion  would 
never  permit  his  execution.     Some  terrible  charges 
were    brought   against   the    prisoner,    but   in   an 
Oriental  country  it  is  almost  impossible  to  arrive 
at  the  truth.     In  the   end  it  was  arranged  that 
Arabi  should  plead  guilty ;  sentence  of  death  was 
passed  ;  and  the  Khedive  immediately  commuted 
this  to  banishment.     The  prisoner's  escape  from 


164     Egypt  before  the  British  Occupation 

death  was  received  with  cheers  by  the  few  Eng- 
Hsh  people  in  the  court,  and  the  wife  of  one  of 
the  barristers  rushed  forward  and  presented  the 
startled  Arabi  with  a  large  bouquet  of  flowers, 
while  the  Egyptian  judges  and  officials  stared 
blankly  at  each  other,  wondering  what  manner 
of  people  this  was  who  had  raised  the  fallen  rebel 
to  the  status  of  patriot  and  hero. 

On  December  26,  1882,  Arabi  embarked  upon 
a  British  vessel,  and  was  conveyed  to  Ceylon, 
where  he  lived  for  nineteen  years,  a  forgotten 
exile.  As  old  age  crept  upon  him  he  began  to 
express  the  keenest  desire  to  return  to  Egypt, 
and  to  Mr  Clement  Scott  he  once  said :  "  I  have 
done  with  politics,  as  I  have  done  with  war.  I 
want  to  return  to  Egypt,  there  to  live  as  a  private 
man.  .  .  .  This  is  what  I  ask  from  your  great 
country,  which  has  treated  me  with  such  merciful 
consideration.  I  have  been  punished,  and  I  have 
suffered.  I  have  asked  pardon,  and  still,  knowing 
the  English,  I  ask  for  mercy."  In  1901  the  old 
man  was  permitted  to  return  to  Egypt,  which 
had  forgotten  him ;  and  for  ten  years  he  lived 
at  Helouan,  in  a  small  house  on  the  edge  of  the 
desert.  He  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-two,  and 
was  buried  in  a  neighbouring  cemetery,  the  funeral 
being  attended  only  by  a  few  relatives  and  friends. 
The  days  of  his  triumphs  were  all  forgotten,  and 
his  death  was  barely  noticed  by  the  people  to 
whom  his  smallest  word  had  once  been  law. 


PART    11. 

EGYPT  DURING  THE   BRITISH 
OCCUPATION 


"  In  the  land  of  Egypt  we  sat  by  the  flesh  pots,  and  we  did  eat 
bread  to  the  full." — Exodus  xvi.  3. 

"  We  remember  the  fish  which  we  did  eat  in  Egypt  freely  ;  and 
the  cucumbers,  and  the  melons,  and  the  leeks,  and  the  onions,  and 
the  garlick." — Nunibers  xi.  5. 


167 


CHAPTER    V. 

LORD   CROMER. 

In  the  history  of  the  nations  the  great  outstanding 
rulers  of  men  may  be  divided  into  two  general 
classes :  those  who  have  carried  all  before  them 
by  reason  of  their  genius,  and  those  who  have 
attained  eminence  by  quiet  and  persistent  labour. 
In  the  former  class  the  greatness  of  the  man  is 
more  often  personal,  and  his  deeds  go  down  to 
posterity  stamped  with  his  own  name ;  in  the 
latter  class  the  fame  of  the  ruler  speedily  becomes 
merged  into  the  fame  he  has  given  to  that  which 
he  has  ruled.  Napoleon  Bonaparte  was  a  genius, 
and  in  considering  his  actions  we  are  apt  to 
follow  his  individual  fortunes  rather  than  those 
of  France.  On  the  other  hand,  General  Joffre 
affords  a  pertinent  example  of  a  man  of  sober 
labour,  and  his  name  will  be  merged  into  that 
of  the  French  nation  whose  fortunes  are  in  his 
hands. 

Lord  Cromer  belongs  to  this  latter  category,  and 
his  quiet  perseverance  has  earned  for  him  that 


1 68     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

reward  which  he  would  most  desire — namely,  the 
privilege  of  being  remembered  in  future  genera- 
tions, not  as  a  personage  but  as  a  movement,  not 
as  an  individual  of  whom  a  thousand  anecdotes 
may  be  told,  but  as  the  essence  of  that  regenera- 
tion of  Egypt  which  will  stand  for  all  time  to  the 
general  credit  of  England. 

As  soon  as  the  battle  of  Tel-el-Kebir  had  been 
fought  and  Arabi  Pasha  brought  to  trial,  the 
home  Government  began  to  consider  the  desir- 
ability of  withdrawing  the  British  army  from 
Egypt ;  and  Sir  Edward  Malet,  the  British 
Agent  in  Cairo,  was  asked  to  prepare  a  scheme 
for  the  administration  of  the  country  by  the 
Khedive's  Government,  without  any  extensive 
British  assistance,  while  Lord  DufFerin  was  offici- 
ally informed  that  "  Her  Majesty's  Government 
contemplated  shortly  commencing  the  withdrawal 
of  the  British  troops  from  Egypt."  These  some- 
what hasty  steps  caused  great  anxiety  amongst  the 
European  population,  and  nearly  three  thousand 
European  residents  of  Alexandria  sent  petitions  to 
the  British  authorities  asking  that  a  Protectorate 
might  be  declared.  It  was  felt,  however,  that 
since  the  British  expedition  had  been  sent  out 
under  definite  orders  to  maintain  the  status  quo 
as  between  Egypt  and  Turkey,  England  could 
not  honourably  take  any  sort  of  possession  of  the 
conquered  territory ;  and  it  was  further  realised 
that  any  such  action  on  our  part  would   involve 


Lord  Cromer  169 

us  in  trouble  with  France,  who  now  gravely 
regretted  her  refusal  to  participate  in  the  quelling 
of  the  Arabi  revolt  and  her  consequent  loss  of 
control  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile.  In  October 
1882,  only  a  few  weeks  after  the  surrender  of 
the  Egyptian  army,  Lord  DufFerin  was  sent  out 
to  Egypt  to  study  the  general  condition  of  affairs 
in  that  country,  and  in  his  report  he  stated  that 
in  his  opinion  "  European  assistance  in  the  various 
departments  of  Egyptian  administration  would  be 
absolutely  necessary  for  some  time  to  come,"  for, 
he  wrote,  "it  is  frightful  to  contemplate  the 
misery  and  misfortune  which  would  be  entailed 
on  the  population  were  these  departments  to  be 
left  unorganised  by  a  few  high-minded  European 
officials.  .  .  .  This,"  he  added,  "is  especially  true 
in  regard  to  financial  matters,  for  the  maintenance 
of  Egypt's  financial  equilibrium  is  the  guarantee 
of  her  independence."  In  summing  up  the  con- 
clusions at  which  he  had  arrived,  he  stated  that 
"  before  a  guarantee  of  Egypt's  independence  can 
be  said  to  exist,  the  administrative  system  of 
which  it  is  the  leadinof  characteristic  must  have 
time  to  consolidate,  and  ...  we  can  hardly  con- 
sider the  work  of  reorganisation  complete,  or  the 
responsibilities  imposed  upon  us  by  circumstances 
adequately  discharged,  until  we  have  seen  Egypt 
shake  herself  free  from  the  initial  embarrassments 
which  I  have  enumerated  in  this  report." 

Acting  upon  Lord  DufFerin's  advice,  the  British 


lyo     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

Government,  therefore,  decided  to  leave  an  Army 
of  Occupation  in  Egypt  for  the  time  being,  and 
to  appoint  a  diplomatic  agent  to  supervise  the 
government  of  the  country,  with  the  assistance 
of  a  number  of  Europeans  who  should  work 
hand  in  hand  with  the  native  Ministers  and 
officials  in  a  nominally  native  Egyptian  adminis- 
tration. It  was  arranged  that  the  existing  treaties 
with  the  Porte  should  be  upheld — that  is  to  say, 
Egypt  was  to  be  regarded  as  a  part  of  the  Turkish 
Empire,  paying  the  established  tribute  of  £682,000 
per  annum  to  its  overlord,  the  Sultan,  in  the 
manner  of  a  loyal  vassal  state,  but  having  that 
degree  of  independence  which  had  been  guaranteed 
to  it  by  the  military  successes  of  Mohammed 
Ali  and  the  purse  of  Ismail  Pasha.  The  Turco- 
Egyptian  treaties,  as  we  have  seen  on  page  90, 
placed  certain  restrictions  upon  the  Khedive's 
Government :  no  political  arrangements  could  be 
made  with  any  other  state  without  the  consent 
of  the  Porte,  nor  could  war  or  peace  be  declared 
at  any  time  or  in  any  direction  by  Egypt ;  the 
Egyptian  army  was  still  limited  to  a  maximum 
of  18,000  men;  the  coinage  was  to  be  issued  and 
the  taxes  collected  in  the  name  of  the  Sultan, 
and  so  on.  But,  apart  from  these  qualifications, 
the  Egyptian  Government,  with  the  assistance  of 
British  advice,  was  to  continue  to  be  in  control 
of  the  country's  affairs ;  and  very  little  inter- 
ference   was     expected    or    offered     by    Turkey. 


Lord  Cromer  171 

Although  the  different  governmental  departments 
were  under  the  direction  of  native  Ministers  who 
were  responsible  to  the  Khedive,  it  was  apparent 
that  the  country  would  in  reality  be  ruled  by 
the  British  Agent  and  Consul-General ;  and  to 
this  important  post  the  home  Government 
appointed  Sir  Evelyn  Baring  (whom  it  will  be 
more  convenient  to  speak  of  as  Lord  Cromer  at 
once),  an  officer  at  that  time  engaged  in  civil 
work  in  India.  He  arrived  in  Cairo  on  Septem- 
ber 11,  1883. 

Apart  from  the  difficulties  inherent  in  the 
situation  in  Egypt,  there  was  at  this  time  one 
great  problem  which  occupied  the  anxious  atten- 
tion of  all  concerned  in  the  government  of  the 
country — namely,  the  control  of  the  Sudan.  For 
many  years  Egyptian  influence  in  the  Sudan 
had  decayed  and  diminished ;  and  though  the 
nominal  authority  of  the  Khedive  extended  over 
an  area  as  vast  as  Great  Britain,  France,  Ger- 
many, Italy,  and  Scandinavia  put  together,  the 
sphere  of  his  rule  was  actually  confined  to  the 
banks  of  the  Nile  as  far  as  Khartoum.  This 
portion  of  the  country  had  been  terribly  im- 
poverished by  the  exactions  of  Ismail  Pasha, 
and,  in  the  words  of  Sir  Samuel  Baker,  "  There 
was  hardly  a  dog  left  to  howl  for  a  lost  master." 
Now,  to  add  to  Egypt's  difficulties,  a  Mahdi,  or 
prophet,  had  arisen,  to  whose  holy  standard  the 
miserable  remnants  of  the  population  were  flocking, 


172     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

in  the  hope  of  some  rehef  from  their  terrible  lot ; 
and  before  the  new  British  Agent  had  arrived 
in  Egypt  matters  had  come  to  a  head.  The 
Egyptian  troops  at  Khartoum  were  in  a  deplor- 
able condition,  and  had  not  received  their  pay 
for  many  months ;  and  the  Treasury  in  Cairo  was 
too  exhausted  to  furnish  the  necessary  funds. 
Soon  after  the  suppression  of  the  Arabi  revolt,  a 
handful  of  English  officers,  under  General  Hicks, 
was  sent  to  the  Sudan  for  the  purpose  of  estab- 
lishing some  order  amongst  the  tatterdemalion 
native  troops  ;  but  as  the  money  supplied  was 
so  inadequate  very  little  could  be  done.  The 
rebellion  spread,  and  at  length  it  was  decided 
that  General  Hicks  should  lead  an  expedition 
into  Kordofan,  the  seat  of  the  rebel  government. 
The  miserable  condition  and  untrustworthy  temper 
of  the  Egyptian  troops,  hoM^ever,  caused  the 
British  officers  the  gravest  misgivings;  and  though 
General  Hicks,  from  a  mistaken  sense  of  duty, 
did  not  care  to  abandon  the  task  which  had  been 
set,  he  must  have  known  the  risks  which  he 
ran  and  his  small  likelihood  of  success.  With 
almost  incredible  narrov/ness  of  view,  Lord  Gran- 
ville, acting  in  the  name  of  the  British  Government, 
now  issued  a  statement  that  they  were  "in  no 
way  responsible  for  the  operations  in  the  Sudan, 
which  had  been  undertaken  under  the  authority 
of  the  Egyptian  Government,  or  for  the  appoint- 
ment or  actions  of  General  Hicks."     Commenting 


Lord  Cromer  173 

on  this  declaration,  Lord  Cromer  afterwards  made 
the  remark  that  there  could  hardly  have  been  a 
greater  error  than  that  committed  by  Lord  Gran- 
ville in  thinking  he  effectually  threw  off  all 
responsibility  by  declaring  that  it  was  none  of 
his  business.  The  responsibility  of  the  home 
Government  was  based  on  the  fact  that  England 
was  in  military  occupation  of  the  Nile  Valley, 
that  the  weakness  and  inefficiency  of  the  native 
rulers  were  notorious,  and  that  the  civilised  world 
looked  to  us  to  protect  life  and  property  in  the 
Egyptian  dominions.  "  Instead  of  recognising  the 
facts  of  the  situation,"  wrote  Lord  Cromer  in  after 
years,  "  Lord  Granville  took  shelter  behind  an 
illusory  abnegation  of  responsibility  which  was 
a  mere  phantasm  of  the  diplomatic  and  parlia- 
mentary mind." 

At  the  height  of  the  summer  of  1883  the  expedi- 
tion set  out  on  the  march  across  the  desert,  and  to 
this  day  the  traveller  may  see  in  the  unfrequented 
valleys  behind  the  Nubian  village  of  Korosko  the 
tracks  of  the  expedition's  waggons  and  gun-carriages 
deeply  marked  in  the  eternal  sand,  winding  away 
into  the  desert  until  they  are  lost  amongst  the 
hills.  In  all  my  wanderings  in  Egypt  I  have 
come  upon  no  more  pathetic  or  dramatic  spectacle 
than  that  of  these  silent  witnesses  to  the  folly  of 
the  British  Government  and  the  undaunted  heroism 
of  British  officers,  which  time  has  seemed  unwill- 
ing to  obliterate.     Of  the  ten  thousand  men  who 


174     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

set  out  upon  the  expedition  not  one  returned. 
Led  astray  by  treacherous  guides,  the  men  died 
of  thirst  within  a  stone's- throw  of  hidden  drinking- 
pools,  and  at  last  the  enfeebled  remnant  of  the 
army  was  overwhelmed  by  the  enemy.  General 
Hicks  and  the  British  and  Egyptian  officers  of 
his  staff  made  a  brilliant  charge  upon  the  forces 
which  had  surrounded  them,  and  thus  died  fighting 
like  men ;  but  it  was  not  till  many  years  after- 
wards that  the  details  of  the  disaster  filtered 
through  native  sources  into  common  knowledge. 

The  new  British  Agent  arrived  in  Cairo  a  few 
days  after  the  expedition  had  set  out ;  and  as 
soon  as  the  news  of  its  fate  was  made  known, 
Lord  Cromer  very  wisely  advised  the  Government 
to  abandon  the  Sudan  entirely  for  the  moment, 
and  to  devote  all  its  energies  to  the  building  up 
of  Egypt  proper.  The  British  Government,  how- 
ever, now  entertained  the  idea  of  reconquering  the 
lost  territory  by  the  introduction  of  Turkish  troops, 
and  the  Egyptian  Government  acquiesced  in  this 
solution  of  the  difficulty.  The  aid  of  British  troops 
was  absolutely  refused ;  and  soon  the  proposal  to 
invite  the  aid  of  the  Porte  in  the  settlement  of 
its  vassal's  difficulties  was  also  abandoned.  The 
followers  of  the  Mahdi  did  not  at  once  march  on 
Khartoum,  and  that  town  was  therefore  held  for 
the  time  being. 

The  reorganisation  of  the  Egyptian  Government 
and  the  management  of  the  financial  resources  of 


V 

\ 


mm. 


\ 


LORD    CROMER. 


if 


Lord  Cromer  175 


the  country  constituted  a  difficult  but  most   in- 
teresting  task,   and   the   new  British  Agent   set 
himself  to  his  congenial  labours  with  real  enthu- 
siasm, though  the  menace  in  the  Sudan  continued 
to  cause  him  grave  misgivings.     A  piece  of  work 
of  this  kind  makes  a  peculiar  appeal  to  English- 
men ;    and,   in   the   case    of  Egypt,   so    adaptable 
and  so  docile  a  people  had  to  be  governed  that 
the  direction  of  affairs  assumed  in  these  first  years 
a  most  satisfying  character.    In  whatever  direction 
he  turned  Lord  Cromer  found  in  Egypt  the  need 
for  that  kind  of  constructive  administration  which 
he  most  enjoyed,  and  for  the  exercise  of  that  sound 
sense  and  bold  judgment  with  which  he  was  so 
eminently  gifted.     In  no  disparaging  sense  it  may 
be  said  at  once  that  he  did  not  trouble  himself  to 
understand  the  Egyptian  mind,  nor  to  study  the 
prejudices  and  temper  of  the  people  over  whom  he 
ruled.      He  never  learnt   to   speak  Arabic  —  the 
language  of  the  country — and  he  made  no  effort 
to  adapt  his  manners   to  the  habit   of  the  land. 
When  he  retired    in    1907   he    knew   as    little   of 
Egyptian  thought  outside  the  range  of  his  official 
experience  as  he  did    of  Arabic   grammar.      His 
entire  time  was  occupied  in  regulating  the  public 
affairs  of  the  country,  harbouring  its  financial  re- 
sources, and  contending  with  the  diplomatic  diffi- 
culties created  by  the  vagaries  of  foreign  interests. 
He    stood   always    for    British    high  -  mindedness, 
justice,  and  integrity;  and  though  jovial  in  manner 


176     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

to  his  intimates  and  hotly  wrathful  to  transgressors, 
he  appeared  to  reign,  like  a  guiding  star,  in  calm 
and  shining  imperturbability.  From  the  outset 
his  administration  was  hallowed,  if  I  may  so  ex- 
press myself,  by  a  very  beautiful  nobility  and 
cleanliness.  His  actions  were  essentially  those  of 
a  gentleman,  as  we  in  England  interpret  the  word. 
In  a  land  where  fortunes  were  to  be  made  daily, 
and  where  a  material  reward  was  the  recognised 
acknowledgment  of  every  service,  he  remained 
throughout  his  career  a  poor  man ;  and  though 
his  word  dictated  the  fluctuations  of  all  Egyptian 
stocks  and  shares,  and  his  patronage  might  serve 
to  enrich  any  merchant  in  the  land,  he  never 
profited  in  the  smallest  degree  by  his  manifold 
opportunities,  either  in  regard  to  comforts,  artistic 
luxuries,  or  indirect  emoluments.  Nor  was  he  ever 
turned  a  hair's-breadth  from  the  stern  path  of  his 
duty  by  the  overtures  of  foreign  diplomats  or  by 
the  blandishments  of  native  rulers. 

His  forceful  actions  and  bluff  manners  brought 
him  speedily  into  collision  with  France.  Since  the 
days  of  Mohammed  Ali  French  prestige  had  been 
paramount  in  Egypt,  and  Ismail  Pasha's  affection 
for  that  country  had  imposed  a  veneer  of  French 
polish  upon  the  entire  upper  class  life  of  the 
Egyptians.  The  French  language  was  spoken  by 
the  Khedivial  court,  and  was  learnt  by  all  Govern- 
ment officials;  the  fashions  of  Paris  were  studiously 
emulated    by   the    young   Egyptians ;    the    Code 


Lord  Cromer  177 

Napoleon  was  employed  in  the  law  courts ;  and 
French  ideals  were  followed  by  all  those  who 
desired  to  modernise  their  country  and  its  in- 
stitutions. The  administration  of  the  Suez  Canal, 
like  its  construction,  was  conducted  by  Frenchmen ; 
the  sugar  plantations  and  refineries  were  mainly 
French ;  and  both  in  Cairo  and  Alexandria  the 
streets  and  public  buildings  bore  an  unmistakably 
Gallic  character.  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore, 
that  the  introduction  of  British  customs  and  the 
sudden  infusion  of  British  ideals  into  the  country 
should  have  caused  o-rave  irritation  to  Frenchmen 
and  a  somewhat  anti-English  tone  amongst  edu- 
cated Egyptians,  though  for  the  moment  the 
latter  were  too  cowed  by  their  recent  conquest 
to  give  expression  to  their  feelings.  It  is  useless 
now  to  recall  the  many  bickerings  and  quarrels 
which  ensued,  and  which  were  not  arrested  until 
the  establishment  of  the  Entente  Cordiale  in  1904; 
but  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  policy  of  the 
home  Government  in  regard  to  Egypt,  and  the 
actions  of  the  British  Agent  on  the  spot,  were 
always  hampered  by  this  undercurrent  of  ill-feeling 
now  so  happily  removed. 

Lord  Cromer's  relations  with  the  Khedive  were, 
on  the  whole,  cordial.  Tewfik  Pasha  was  in  no 
sense  of  the  word  a  great  man;  but  he  was  kindly, 
pleasant,  and  fairly  reasonable.  He  had  never 
visited  Europe,  and  knew  little  of  international 
politics,  and  therefore  he  was  always  completely 

M 


1 78     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

bewildered  by  the  tortuous  ways  of  foreign  dip- 
lomacy. He  wished  Egypt  to  be  ruled  alone  by 
Egyptians,  and  he  saw  no  reason  for  outside 
interference,  save  in  so  far  as  it  protected  his 
throne ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  he  offered  no 
objection  to  the  reforms  which  were  being  in- 
stituted in  his  country.  His  position  was  one  of 
extreme  difficulty  ;  for,  on  the  one  had,  he  real- 
ised how  unwise  would  be  his  opposition  to  Eng- 
land, and,  on  the  other,  he  was  aware  that  his 
advocacy  of  British  institutions  would  alienate 
him  from  a  large  section  of  influential  Egyptians. 
Under  these  trying  conditions  he  carried  himself 
with  mild  dignity,  and  in  after  years  Lord  Cromer 
said  of  him  that  he  should  be  remembered  with 
gratitude  as  "  the  Khedive  who  alloived  Egypt  to 
be  reformed  in  spite  of  the  Egyptians." 

It  is  not  easy  to  give  any  idea  of  the  anomal- 
ous position  of  the  British  Agent  in  these  early 
years  of  the  occupation ;  and  it  will  perhaps  be 
best  to  quote  at  some  length  Lord  Cromer's  own 
amusing  reference  to  the  difficulties  with  which  he 
had  to  contend. 

"The  duty  of  a  diplomatic  agent  in  a  foreign 
country,"  he  wrote  many  years  later,  "is  to  carry 
out  to  the  best  of  his  ability  the  policy  of  the 
Government  which  he  serves.  My  main  difficulty 
in  Egypt  was  that  the  British  Government  never 
had  any  definite  policy  which  was  capable  of 
execution ;   they   were,   indeed,   at  one  time  con- 


^^ 


Lord  Cromer  179 

stantly  striving  to  square  the  circle — that  is  to 
say,  they  were  endeavouring  to  carry  out  two 
policies  which  were  irreconcilable  —  namely,  the 
policy  of  reform  and  the  counter-policy  of  evacu- 
ation. The  British  Government  are  not  to  be 
blamed  on  this  account.  The  circumstances  w^ere 
of  a  nature  to  preclude  the  possibility  of  adopting 
a  clear-cut  line  of  action,  which  would  have  en- 
abled the  means  to  be  on  all  occasions  logically 
adapted  to  the  end. 

"  I  never  received  any  general  instructions  for 
my  guidance  during  the  time  I  held  the  post  of 
British  Consul  -  General  in  Egypt,  and  I  never 
asked  for  any  such  instructions,  for  I  knew  that 
it  was  useless  for  me  to  do  so.  My  course  of 
action  was  decided  according  to  the  merits  of 
each  case  with  which  I  had  to  deal.  Sometimes 
I  spurred  the  unwilling  Egyptian  along  the  path 
of  reform.  At  other  times  I  curbed  the  impatience 
of  the  British  reformer.  Sometimes  I  had  to 
explain  to  the  old  -  world  Mohammedan,  the 
Mohammedan  of  the  Sheriat,  the  elementary 
differences  between  the  principles  of  government 
in  vogue  in  the  seventh  and  in  the  nineteenth 
centuries.  At  other  times  I  had  to  explain  to 
the  young  Gallicised  Egyptian  that  the  principles 
of  an  ultra  -  Republican  Government  were  not 
applicable  in  their  entirety  to  the  existing  phase 
of  Egyptian  society,  and  that,  when  we  speak 
of  the  rights  of  man,  some  distinction  has  neces- 


i8o     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

sarily  to  be  made  in  practice  between  a  European 
spouting  nonsense  through  the  medium  of  a  fifth- 
rate  newspaper  in  his  own  country,  and  man  in 
the  person  of  a  ragged  Egyptian  fellah,  possessed 
of  a  sole  garment,  and  who  is  unable  to  read  a 
newspaper  in  any  language  whatsoever.  I  had 
to  support  the  reformer  suiEciently  to  prevent 
him  from  being  discouraged,  and  sufficiently  also 
to  enable  him  to  carry  into  execution  all  that 
was  essential  in  his  reforming  policy.  I  had  to 
check  the  reformer  when  he  wished  to  push  his 
reforms  so  far  as  to  shake  the  whole  political 
fabric  in  his  endeavour  to  overcome  the  tiresome 
and,  to  his  eyes,  often  trumpery  obstacles  in  his 
path.  I  had  to  support  the  supremacy  of  the 
Sultan,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  oppose  any 
practical  Turkish  interference  in  the  administra- 
tion, which  necessarily  connoted  a  relapse  into 
barbarism.  I  had  at  one  time  to  do  nothing 
Inconsistent  with  a  speedy  return  to  Egyptian 
self-government,  or,  at  all  events,  a  return  to 
government  by  the  hybrid  coterie  of  Cairo,  which 
flaunts  before  the  world  as  the  personification  of 
Egyptian  autonomy ;  whilst,  at  the  same  time,  I 
was  well  aware  that,  for  a  long  time  to  come, 
European  guidance  will  be  essential  if  the  ad- 
minstration  is  to  be  conducted  on  sound  principles. 
T  had  at  times  to  retire  into  my  diplomatic  shell, 
and  to  pose  as  one  amongst  many  representatives 
of  foreign  Powers.     At  other  times  I  had  to  step 


''  Lord  Cromer  i8i 

forward  as  the  representative  of  the  Sovereign 
whose  soldiers  held  Egypt  in  their  grip.  At  one 
time  I  had  to  defend  Egypt  against  European 
aggression,  and,  not  unfrequently,  I  had  in  the 
early  days  of  the  occupation  to  defend  the  British 
position  against  foreign  attack.  I  had  to  keep 
in  touch  with  the  well-intentioned,  generally  reason- 
able, but  occasionally  ill-informed  public  opinion 
of  England,  when  I  knew  that  the  praise  or  blame 
of  the  British  Parliament  and  press  was  a  very 
faulty  standard  by  which  to  judge  the  wisdom 
or  unwisdom  of  my  acts.  I  had  to  maintain 
British  authority,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  hide 
as  much  as  possible  the  fact  that  I  was  maintain- 
ing it.  I  had  a  military  force  at  my  disposal, 
which  I  could  not  use  save  in  the  face  of  some 
great  emergency.  I  had  to  work  through  British 
agents  over  whom  I  possessed  no  control,  save 
that  based  on  personal  authority  and  moral 
suasion.  I  had  to  avoid  any  step  which  might 
involve  the  creation  of  European  difficulties  by 
reason  of  local  troubles.  I  had  to  keep  the 
Egyptian  question  simmering,  and  to  avoid  any 
action  which  might  tend  to  force  on  its  premature 
consideration,  and  I  had  to  do  this  at  one  time 
when  all,  and  at  another  time  when  some,  of  the 
most  important  Powers  were  more  or  less  opposed 
to  British  policy.  Lastly,  the  most  heterogeneous 
petty  questions  were  continually  coming  before 
me.      If  a  young  British   officer  was  cheated  at 


i82     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

cards,  I  had  to  get  him  out  of  his  difficulties.  If 
a  slave  girl  wanted  to  marry,  I  had  to  bring  moral 
pressure  on  her  master  or  mistress  to  give  their 
consent.  If  a  Jewish  sect  wished  for  official 
recognition  from  the  Egyptian  Government,  I  was 
expected  to  obtain  it,  and  to  explain  to  an  Egyptian 
Minister  all  I  knew  of  the  difference  between 
Ashkenazian  and  Sephardic  practices.  If  the 
inhabitants  of  some  remote  village  in  Upper 
Egypt  were  discontented  with  their  Sheikh,  they 
appealed  to  me.  I  have  had  to  write  telegrams 
and  despatches  about  the  most  miscellaneous 
subjects,  —  about  the  dismissal  of  the  Khedive's 
English  coachman,  about  preserving  the  lives  of 
Irish  reformers  from  the  Clan-na-Gael  conspirators, 
and  about  the  tenets  of  the  Abyssinian  Church 
in  respect  to  the  Procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
I  have  been  asked  to  interfere  in  order  to  get  a 
German  missionary  who  had  been  guilty  of  em- 
bezzlement out  of  prison ;  in  order  to  get  a  place 
for  the  French  and  Italian  Catholics  to  bury  their 
dead  ;  in  order  to  get  a  dead  Mohammedan  of 
great  sanctity  exumed  ;  in  order  to  prevent  a  female 
member  of  the  Khedivial  family  from  striking  her 
husband  over  the  mouth  with  a  slipper ;  and  in 
order  to  arrange  a  marriage  between  two  other 
members  of  the  same  family  whom  hard-hearted 
relatives  kept  apart.  I  have  had  to  take  one 
English  maniac  in  my  own  carriage  to  a  lunatic 
asylum ;  I  have  caused  another  to  be  turned  out 


Lord  Cromer  183 

of  the  English  Church  ;  and  I  have  been  informed 
that  a  third  and  remarkably  muscular  madman 
was  on  his  way  to  my  house,  girt  with  a  towel 
round  his  loins,  and  bearing  a  poker  in  his  hands 
with  the  intention  of  using  that  implement  on  my 
head.  I  have  been  asked  by  an  Egyptian  fellah 
to  find  out  the  whereabouts  of  his  wife  who  had 
eloped ;  and  by  a  German  professor  to  send  him  at 
once  six  live  electric  shad-fish  from  the  Nile.  To 
sum  up  the  situation  in  a  few  words,  I  had  not, 
indeed,  to  govern  Egypt,  but  to  assist  in  the 
government  of  the  country  without  the  appear- 
ance of  doing  so,  and  without  any  legitimate 
authority  over  the  agents  with  whom  I  had  to 
deal." 

Meanwhile  the  situation  in  the  Sudan  was 
growing  daily  more  threatening,  and  Lord 
Cromer's  attention  was  constantly  called  away 
from  his  work  in  Egypt  by  the  menace  in  the 
south.  Khartoum  was  now  the  only  town  held 
by  the  Egyptians,  and  the  route  from  thence  to 
the  lower  Nile  was  kept  open  only  with  great 
difiiculty.  Some  5000  native  troops  were  here 
garrisoned  under  the  command  of  Colonel  de 
Coetlogon,  an  officer  who  had  as  little  faith  in 
his  men  as  they  had  in  him.  In  November  1883 
Lord  Cromer  again  advised  the  British  and 
Egyptian  Governments  to  evacuate  the  Sudan 
entirely,  but  Cherif  Pasha,  the  Egyptian  Prime 
Minister,    opposed    this    measure,    and    in    conse- 


184     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

quence  was  obliged  to  resign.  England  did  not 
wish  to  be  involved  in  a  further  campaign,  and 
it  was  felt  that  France  would  regard  an  expedition 
as  a  somewhat  provocative  attempt  to  enlarge  the 
British  dominions.  On  the  other  hand,  the  despatch 
of  a  Turkish  army  to  restore  order  was  now 
thought  to  be  very  undesirable ;  while  it  was 
recognised  that  the  Egyptian  army  was  in  no  con- 
dition to  effect  the  reconquest  of  the  southern 
provinces  unaided. 

In  this  dilemma  the  home  Government  decided 
to  send  the  popular  but  eccentric  General  Gordon 
to  Khartoum  to  report  on  the  situation,  and,  if 
necessary,  to  carry  out  the  evacuation  of  the 
country.  To  this  step  Lord  Cromer  was  at  first 
much  opposed,  but  at  length  he  acquiesced,  very 
half-heartedly,  in  the  arrangement ;  and  Gordon 
left  London  on  18th  January  1884.  When  he 
arrived  in  Cairo,  however,  the  nature  of  his  status 
was  altered  at  his  request,  and  he  was  appointed 
Governor-General  of  the  Sudan,  his  instructions  to 
carry  out  the  evacuation  being  confirmed.  On 
January  26  he  left  Cairo  on  his  ill-fated  mission. 
"  He  was  in  excellent  spirits  at  his  departure," 
wrote  Lord  Cromer,  "  and  hopeful  of  success.  But 
my  own  heart  was  heavy  within  me.  I  knew  the 
difiiiculties  of  the  task  which  had  to  be  accom- 
plished. In  spite  of  many  fine  and  attractive 
qualities,  Gordon  was  even  more  eccentric  than  I 
had  originally  supposed  ;   and  I  was  not  relieved 


Lord  Cromer  185 

of  the  doubts  which  I  had  entertained  as  to  the 
wisdom  of  employing  him." 

The  historian  of  the  future  will  have,  I  am  sure, 
the  utmost  difficulty  in  giving  an  opinion  as  to 
the  character  and  abilities  of  the  heroic  General 
Gordon.  Even  at  the  present  time  so  many 
divergent  interpretations  of  his  remarkable  per- 
sonality are  current  that  one  cannot  form  a 
decision  with  any  degree  of  certainty ;  and  in 
future  years  there  will  be  an  ever  diminishing 
likelihood  of  arriving  at  a  true  judgment.  The 
seeming  contradictions  of  Gordon's  character 
appear  to  me  to  be  due  to  the  fact  that  in  him 
is  to  be  found  the  unusual  combination  of  the 
qualities  of  a  brave  and  high-minded  Christian 
gentleman  of  the  provincial  type  with  those  not 
infrequently  observed  in  an  erratic  genius  of  the 
artistic  world.  Had  Gordon's  life  been  lived  in 
the  Latin  quarter  he  might  very  possibly  have 
left  behind  him  the  memory  of  a  generous, 
eccentric,  wild  -  living,  lovable  crank :  had  he 
passed  his  days  as  a  country  squire  he  might  have 
been  known  as  a  kindly  martinet,  an  unpractical 
social  reformer,  and  a  pillar  of  the  local  church  or 
chapel.  As  it  was,  however,  Fate  led  him  into 
strange  distant  lands  where  the  hard-and-fast 
rules  in  which  he  had  been  brought  up  were  able 
to  be  relaxed,  and  where  the  individual  charac- 
teristics of  his  dual  nature  were  equally  given  free 
rein.     Thus  sometimes  we  see  him  acting  like  one 


1 86     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

of  Arthur's  Knights  reincarnate  in  the  body  of  a 
rather  untidy  British  officer,  and  at  other  times 
his  behaviour  suggests  that  of  an  irresponsible 
artistic  ideaHst  suddenly  called  from  the  cafes  of 
Montmartre  to  enact  the  role  of  a  public  hero. 
There  can  be  no  question  that  he  was  a  superbly 
gallant  and  fearless  soldier,  whose  lofty  idealism 
and  transparent  frankness  and  simplicity  won  the 
love  of  all  men ;  but  at  the  same  time  a  more 
iElighty  and  less  controlled  nature  than  his  could 
hardly  be  imagined.  He  was  an  impatient,  short- 
tempered,  and  liverish  man,  whose  delicate  frame 
and  stooping  shoulders  in  no  way  suggested  the 
inherent  largeness  of  his  nature.  His  eyes,  how- 
ever, revealed  the  power  of  his  mind.  They  were 
peculiarly  bright,  and  were  of  an  extraordinary 
blue-grey  colour,  "like  the  sky,"  it  was  said,  "on 
a  bitter  March  morning."  His  voice  was  very  soft 
and  sweet,  except  when  he  was  excited ;  but, 
though  a  voluminous  writer,  he  was  not  a  great 
speaker,  and  his  manner  was  generally  abrupt. 
He  was  extremely  immoderate  in  his  habits,  and 
smoked  to  excess. 

If  the  absurd  tales  still  current  were  to  be 
believed,  one  would  think  of  Gordon  at  Khartoum 
as  an  intemperate  fanatic  who,  with  bloodshot 
eyes,  wandered  restlessly  to  and  fro  before  his 
lonely  quarters,  a  sword  in  one  hand  and  a  Bible 
in  the  other.  Stories  are  related  which  describe 
him,    for  example,   entering  his    tent  when  some 


Lord  Cromer  187 

decision  had  to  be  arrived  at,  thrusting  his  sword 
into  the  sand  outside  as  the  recognised  signal  that 
he  was  not  to  be  disturbed,  opening  his  Bible  with 
his  eyes  tight  shut,  placing  his  finger  upon  some 
portion  of  the  unseen  page,  and  then  hurrying  out 
to  announce  his  decision  as  formed  by  an  inter- 
pretation of  the  words  to  which  the  unguided 
finger  had  pointed.  Such  tales,  however,  I  believe 
to  be  due  to  a  misunderstanding  of  his  character. 
Gordon  was  perfectly  capable  of  soliciting  Divine 
aid  by  some  such  oracular  method,  but  that  his 
behaviour  ever  gave  the  impression  that  he  was 
under  the  influence  of  alcohol  is  fully  explained 
by  the  fact  that  in  times  of  anxiety  his  erratic 
manner  when  sober  was  remarkably  similar  to 
that  of  other  men  when  intoxicated. 

As  regards  his  religion,  Gordon  was  a  typical 
enthusiast,  and  had  he  been  born  a  few  centuries 
earlier  he  might  have  played  the  role  of  a  prophet. 
In  appointing  the  officials  who  were  to  serve  with 
him,  he  usually  relied  on  what  he  called  a  "  mystic 
feeling,"  which  controlled  his  judgment  as  though 
from  on  high ;  and  thus  it  came  about  that  he  was 
often  served  by  very  unreliable  persons.  During 
his  residence  at  Khartoum  he  believed  that  he 
had  a  divine  mission  to  perform  in  the  Sudan.  He 
regarded  himself  as  the  person  chosen  by  Almighty 
God  to  be  the  saviour  of  these  lost  Egyptian  pro- 
vinces. In  a  letter  to  a  friend,  dated  January  3, 
1884,  he  pointed  out  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah  con- 


1 88     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

cerning  himself,  which  is  to  be  fouud  in  chapter 
xix.,  verses  19  and  20,  of  that  Book  : — 

"  In  that  day  shall  there  be  an  altar  to  the 
Lord  in  the  midst  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  a 
pillar  at  the  border  thereof  to  the  Lord. 

"  And  it  shall  be  for  a  sign  and  for  a  witness 
unto  the  Lord  of  hosts  in  the  land  of  Egypt :  for 
they  shall  cry  unto  the  Lord  because  of  the 
oppressors,  and  he  shall  send  them  a  saviour,  and 
a  great  one,  and  he  shall  deliver  them" 

In  spite,  however,  of  this  belief  in  a  divine 
mission,  he  never  quite  made  up  his  mind  what 
that  mission  was ;  and  Lord  Cromer  has  pointed 
out  that  there  were  no  less  than  five  different 
plans  of  action  and  interpretations  of  situations 
propounded  by  Gordon  during  the  early  days  of 
his  residence  in  the  Sudan.  "  His  revulsions 
of  opinion,"  wrote  Lord  Cromer  in  after  years, 
"  were  so  rapid  and  so  complete  that  it  was 
almost  impossible  to  follow  him.  I  had  to  distin- 
guish between  such  proposals  as  represented  his 
matured  opinions,  and  others  which  were  mere 
bubbles  thrown  up  by  his  imaginative  brain,  and 
probably  forgotten  as  soon  as  made."  He  would 
sometimes  send  twenty  or  thirty  telegrams  to 
Lord  Cromer  in  one  day,  and  those  despatched 
in  the  afternoon  would  entirely  contradict  the 
messages  of  the  morning.  His  language  in  these 
telegrams   was    generally    involved    and    full    of 


Lord  Cromer  189 

invective,  and  it  is  said  that  in  the  spoken 
word  he  had  a  terrifying  command  of  British 
oaths.  In  his  official  telegrams  he  would  some- 
times write  of  the  enemy  as  "  a  damned  lot  of 
stinking  Dervishes,"  or  he  would  describe  some 
high  official  as  "a  confounded  silly  ass."  His 
open  abuse  of  Lord  Granville  and  other  Ministers 
and  officials  was  so  astonishingly  frank  that  a 
large  number  of  his  despatches  have  had  to  remain 
unpublished.  "  I  own,"  he  wrote  in  his  journal, 
"  to  having  been  very  insubordinate  to  Her 
Majesty's  Government  and  its  officials,  but  it  is 
my  nature  and  I  cannot  help  it.  I  know  if  / 
was  chief  I  would  never  employ  myself,  for  I  am 
incorrigible.  To  men  like  Dilke,  who  weigh  every 
word,  I  must  be  perfect  poison." 

This  was  indeed  very  true ;  and  his  hatred 
of  all  officials,  combined  with  his  wish  always  to 
act  independently  according  to  the  whim  of  the 
moment,  caused  him  to  be  regarded  with  a  sort 
of  terror  by  those  in  authority.  Yet  so  great  a 
hero  was  he  in  the  eyes  of  the  British  public, 
who  loved  his  unconventionality  and  enjoyed  the 
droll  manner  in  which  he  attacked  the  Govern- 
ment, that  nobody  dared  to  gainsay  him.  In 
England  he  was  regarded  as  the  champion  of 
British  common-sense,  independence,  and  justice, 
as  opposed  to  the  obscure  red  tape  of  officialdom. 
But  by  those  who  had  to  deal  with  him,  on  the 
contrary,  he  was  found  to  be  the  very  personifi- 


IQO     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

cation  of  instability,  mental  insobriety,  and 
immoderation.  "  In  Gordon,"  wrote  one  of  his 
friends,  "  strength  and  weakness  were  most 
fantastically  mingled."  He  had,  however,  the 
courage  of  his  opinions  ;  and  his  wild  bravery  in 
times  of  danger  endeared  him  to  all  men.  No 
one  can  doubt  the  loftiness  of  his  ideals ;  and 
his  splendid  efforts  to  do  his  duty  and  to  honour 
his  country  fill  us  with  admiration.  Yet,  like 
Don  Quixote,  the  manner  in  which  he  set  about 
his  work  generally  detracted  from  its  value ;  and 
England's  greatest  obligation  to  him  is  to  be 
found,  perhaps,  in  the  fact  that  his  life  has 
become,  by  some  whimsical  process,  a  sacred 
memory,  and  his  death,  very  rightfully,  an  eternal 
stimulus  to  heroism. 

General  Gordon  arrived  in  Khartoum  on  Feb- 
ruary 18,  and  was  received  by  the  townspeople 
and  the  garrison  with  indescribable  enthusiasm. 
Men  and  women  danced  around  him  as  he  walked 
to  his  quarters,  and  many  threw  themselves  at 
his  feet,  clasping  his  legs  and  kissing  his  boots. 
In  the  excitement  of  the  moment  the  fact  was 
overlooked  that  he  had  brought  neither  troops 
nor  money ;  but  it  was  not  long  before  the  pre- 
cariousness  of  the  situation  was  generally  felt. 
Gordon  himself  was  astonishingly  undecided  as 
to  how  he  should  act,  and  his  fertile  mind  passed 
from  one  scheme  to  another  with  startling 
rapidity.      Soon  it   became   clear  that   he  would 


Lord  Cromer  191 

have  great  difficulty  in  extricating  himself  and 
the  garrison  from  their  untenable  position ;  and 
it  was  now  that  his  great  bravery  and  high 
sense  of  duty  began  to  endanger  his  life.  He 
detested  the  thought  of  leaving  the  inhabitants 
to  the  mercy  of  the  Mahdi,  and  day  after  day 
passed  without  his  making  any  arrangements  for 
the  evacuation.  All  manner  of  schemes  for  avoid- 
ing the  retirement  suggested  themselves  to  him, 
and  his  reckless  desire  to  fight  the  rebels  and  to 
hold  the  Sudan  became  firmly  fixed  in  his  mind. 

At  length  the  road  of  his  retreat  to  Egypt 
was  interrupted,  and  he  began  to  realise  that 
he  would  be  cut  off.  "  I  shall  be  caught  in 
Khartoum,"  he  wrote,  "  and  even  if  I  was  mean 
enough  to  escape  I  have  not  the  power  to  do  so." 
A  little  later  he  addressed  an  appeal  to  the  British 
public,  asking  for  £300,000  in  order  that  a  force 
of  3000  Turkish  troops  might  be  sent  to  his  aid, 
since  the  home  Government  still  objected  to  the 
use  of  British  soldiers  in  these  domains  of  the 
Sultan  and  the  Khedive.  "  I  don't  see  the  fun 
of  being  caught  here,"  he  wrote  to  Lord  Cromer, 
"  to  walk  about  the  streets  for  years  as  a  Dervish 
with  sandalled  feet.  Not  that  (D.V.)  I  will  ever 
be  taken  alive." 

Meanwhile  a  British  force  of  4400  men  was 
being  concentrated  at  Suakim,  on  the  Red  Sea 
coast,  and  although  this  little  army  fought  some 
successful  engagements  with    Osman   Digna,  the 


192     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

Mahdi's  lieutenant,  no  advance  on  Khartoum  from 
that  direction  seemed  practicable.  On  March  24 
Lord  Cromer  stated  officially  that  steps  must  be 
taken  to  extricate  Gordon,  but  on  April  19  all 
communication  with  Khartoum  ceased.  It  was 
not  till  early  in  August,  however,  that  the  British 
Government  decided  to  send  a  relief  expedition, 
and  September  had  arrived  before  the  army  began 
its  march  up  the  Nile. 

Matters  in  Khartoum  were  now  desperate,  and 
in  November  Gordon  managed  to  send  a  message 
in  which  he  stated  that  he  could  hold  out  only  for 
another  six  weeks  or  so.  The  relief  expedition, 
however,  met  with  the  greatest  difficulties,  and 
the  seriousness  of  the  situation  having  been 
altogether  misunderstood,  the  advance  was  slow. 
When  all  hope  of  speedy  relief  was  at  an  end, 
Gordon  wrote  in  his  journal,  "  I  have  done  my 
best  for  the  honour  of  our  country.  Good-bye  "  ; 
and  this  was  afterwards  brought  to  light,  together 
with  another  brief  message  in  which  he  had 
written :  *'  What  I  have  gone  through  I  cannot 
describe.     The  Almighty  God  will  help  me." 

On  January  26,  1885,  while  the  expedition 
was  still  very  many  miles  from  its  destination, 
Khartoum  fell,  and  General  Gordon  died  fighting 
on  the  steps  of  his  residence.  His  head  was 
struck  from  his  body  and  was  sent  to  the  Mahdi ; 
and  when  the  news  of  his  death  was  received 
by  the  British    Government   the  expedition   was 


Lord  Cromer  193 

abandoned,  the  entire  Sudan  being  forthwith 
evacuated. 

Thus  died  one  of  the  most  eccentric,  the  most 
uncontrolled,  and,  withal,  the  most  noble  charac- 
ters who  have  ever  lived  ;  and  thus  ended  a  very 
dark  page  of  English  history.  For  once  our 
proverbial  muddling  did  not  carry  us  through, 
and  the  good  luck  usually  attendant  upon  our 
arms  entirely  deserted  us.  Mr  Gladstone,  who 
was  then  in  office,  was  of  course  most  severely 
blamed  for  his  indecisive  actions,  and  the  initials 
G.O.M.  by  which  he  was  known  to  his  admirers, 
and  which  stood  for  "  Grand  Old  Man,"  were 
popularly  reversed  to  M.O.G.,  or  "Murderer  of 
Gordon." 

The  Mahdi  did  not  long  survive  his  heroic 
enemy ;  he  died  on  June  22  of  the  same  year, 
and  was  succeeded  by  a  pretender  to  the  Caliph- 
ate, Abdullah  el  Taashi,  commonly  known  as  the 
Khalifa.  No  sooner  was  the  evacuation  of  the 
Sudan  accomplished  than  a  very  important  step 
was  taken  by  the  British  Government.  Sir  Henry 
Wolff  was  sent  to  Constantinople  in  order  to  effect 
an  agreement  with  the  Sultan  in  regard  to  Eng- 
land's position  in  Egypt,  and  he  was  instructed 
to  invite  the  co-operation  of  the  Porte  in  the 
settlement  of  the  Egyptian  question.  In  the  fol- 
lowing October  it  was  agreed  that  a  Turkish  and 
a  British  commissioner  should  proceed  to  Egypt 
to   "  examine   all    the    branches  of  the  Egyptian 

N 


194     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

administration,  and  introduce  into  them  the  modi- 
fications which  they  considered  necessary,  within 
the  hmits  of  the  Imperial  firmans  " — i.e.,  the  Turco- 
Egyptian  Treaties.  The  two  delegates  arrived  in 
Cairo  shortly  afterwards,  and  for  more  than 
eighteen  months  they  discussed  and  argued  the 
many  points  which  presented  themselves.  At 
last,  in  May  1887,  an  agreement  was  signed  which 
provided,  amongst  many  other  matters,  that  the 
British  troops  should  be  withdrawn  from  Egypt 
at  the  expiration  of  three  years  unless  there  was 
any  "appearance  of  danger  in  the  interior  or  from 
without " ;  and  it  was  further  agreed  that  if  the 
Khedive  did  not  fulfil  all  his  obligations  as  vassal 
of  the  Sultan,  both  the  Ottoman  and  British 
Governments  would  have  the  right  to  occupy 
Egypt  with  troops.  This  last  clause  caused  a 
storm  of  indignation  in  Europe,  for  it  meant  that 
the  British  evacuation  would  only  be  a  temporary 
movement,  and  that  at  the  slightest  sign  of  in- 
ternal trouble  our  army  would  return  to  the  banks 
of  the  Nile.  The  Sultan,  therefore,  refused  to 
ratify  the  convention,  and  the  whole  question  was 
left  unsettled  and  undefined,  and  so  remained  until 
the  recent  declaration  of  the  Protectorate. 

The  events  of  the  next  few  years  may  be  briefly 
recorded.  In  1889  the  Egyptian  army,  which  had 
now  been  properly  trained  and  equipped  under 
British  officers,  inflicted  two  serious  defeats  upon 
the  Dervishes,  and  some  of  the  provinces  of  the 


Lord  Cromer  195 

Sudan  were  reoccupied.  Egypt  was  now  begin- 
ning once  more  to  hold  up  its  head,  and  in  these 
years  Lord  Cromer  was  able  to  report  that,  by  his 
careful  management  of  the  public  funds,  the  race 
against  national  bankruptcy  was  practically  won. 
In  1892  the  Khedive  Tewfik  died,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  son.  Abbas  Hilmi,  whose  recent 
deposition  will  be  fresh  in  the  reader's  memory  ; 
and  at  his  accession,  the  British  and  Egyptian 
troops  stood  at  the  salute  while  the  Turkish 
national  anthem  was  played  and  the  Sultan's 
message  read,  the  object  of  this  demonstration 
being,  as  Lord  Cromer  put  it,  "  to  show  publicly 
the  desire  of  the  British  Government  to  recognise 
the  legitimate  rights  of  the  Sultan."  In  the  same 
year  Sir  Herbert  (now  Lord)  Kitchener  became 
Sirdar,  or  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Egyptian 
army.  Six  years  later,  in  1898,  a  large  British 
and  Egyptian  army,  under  Lord  Kitchener,  set 
out  to  reconquer  the  Sudan  and  to  wipe  out  the 
earlier  stain  upon  our  arms.  The  battle  of  the 
Atbara  was  fought  and  won  on  April  8,  and  on 
September  2  the  Dervishes  were  finally  defeated 
at  Omdurman.  Two  days  later  the  British  and 
Egyptian  flags  were  hoisted  side  by  side  above 
the  ruined  headquarters  at  Khartoum ;  a  most 
impressive  religious  service  was  held  on  the  spot 
where  Gordon  died ;  and  the  tomb  of  the  Mahdi 
was  blown  to  pieces  by  dynamite. 

A  very  serious  difficulty  then  arose  with  France. 


196     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

A  French  expedition  under  Major  Marchant,  which 
had  bravely  penetrated  from  the  south  to  Fashoda, 
a  town  in  the  interior  of  the  Sudan,  came  face  to 
face  with  the  victorious  British  forces  from  the 
north  ;  and  each  party  regarded  the  other  as  an 
intruder.  This  may  be  described  as  the  culmin- 
ating point  in  the  long  quarrel  between  England 
and  France  in  respect  to  Egypt ;  and  actual  war 
between  the  two  countries  was  only  narrowly 
averted  by  the  retirement  of  the  French  expedi- 
tion. Shortly  afterwards  Sir  Reginald  Wingate 
was  appointed  Sirdar  and  Governor-General  of  the 
Sudan,  and,  at  the  time  of  writing,  he  still  holds 
with  distinction  that  laborious  office. 

The  international  situation  caused  by  the  con- 
quest of  the  Sudan  was  very  curious.  The  expedi- 
tion had  been  carried  out  jointly  by  British  and 
Egyptian  troops  under  the  command  of  Lord 
Kitchener,  who  at  that  time  held  office  in  the 
service  of  the  Khedive,  by  a  mandate  confirmed 
by  the  Sultan  of  Turkey,  the  Khedive's  overlord. 
Legally  the  Sudan  was  simply  a  province  of  the 
Turkish  Empire,  reconquered  for  the  Sultan  by 
British  aid,  and  the  Porte  would  now  have  had 
the  technical  right  to  thank  us  for  that  aid  and 
to  request  us  to  retire  forthwith.  Obviously, 
however,  the  stricken  population  of  this  vast 
country  could  not  be  left  to  the  casual  mal- 
administration of  a  Turkish  or  Egyptian  Govern- 
ment ;  and  it  was  clearly  England's  duty  to  turn 


Lord  Cromer  197 

the  national  genius  for  organisation  to  the  con- 
genial task  of  bringing  order  and  justice  to  these 
sorely-tried  peoples.  An  agreement  was  therefore 
signed  with  Egypt,  by  the  Articles  of  which  the 
British  Government  assumed  a  definite  status  in 
the  Sudan,  quite  different  to  its  undefined  position 
in  Egypt  proper.  We  announced  that  henceforth 
these  reconquered  provinces  should  be  under  the 
explicit  joint  control  of  England  and  Egypt ;  and 
the  suzerain  rights  of  Turkey  were  tacitly  ignored. 
This  assumption  by  us  of  joint  authority  was  justi- 
fied in  the  agreement  simply  and  frankly  on  the 
grounds  that  it  "gave  efiPect  to  the  claims  which 
have  accrued  to  the  British  Government  hy  right 
of  conquest  to  share  in  the  present  settlement  and 
future  working  and  development "  of  the  Sudan. 

This  position,  of  course,  was  in  practice  quite 
easily  to  be  justified  and  maintained ;  but  tech- 
nically it  was  absolutely  ridiculous.  "Diplomat- 
ists," Lord  Cromer  afterwards  admitted,  "  were 
puzzled  and  shocked  at  the  creation  of  a  political 
status  hitherto  unknown  to  the  law  of  Europe ; " 
and  on  all  sides  the  question  was  asked  how 
England  was  going  to  square  the  circle,  or  both 
admit  and  deny  the  suzerain  rights  of  the  Porte. 
The  Sultan,  of  course,  was  furious  at  the  infringe- 
ment of  these  rights ;  for  in  the  early  part  of  the 
nineteenth  century  England  had  most  explicitly 
recognised  that  the  Sudan  was  held  by  the  sove- 
reign of  Egypt  as  a  vassal  province  of  the  Turkish 


Pr 


198     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

Empire ;  and  yet  now  the  Sultan's  name  had  not 
been  so  much  as  mentioned  in  the  agreement. 
The  Porte,  however,  was  not  in  a  position  to 
protest  very  energetically,  and  presently  it  came 
to  be  generally  recognised  that  our  action,  though 
technically  wrong,  was  morally  right.  The  happi- 
ness and  welfare  of  millions  of  Sudanese,  after  all, 
were  justification  enough  ;  and  if  the  makeshift 
arrangements  of  international  comity  were  upset, 
there  could  be  no  question  that  the  eternal  laws 
of  humanity  and  righteousness  were  thereby  nobly 
upheld.  No  man  who  had  witnessed  the  degrada- 
tion of  utter  misery  in  which  these  provinces  were 
sunk  before  the  intervention  of  the  British,  and 
who  has  now  seen  the  glorious  happiness  and  con- 
tent of  the  inhabitants  under  Anglo-Egyptian  rule, 
will  doubt  that  Lord  Cromer  was  morally  right  in 
making  the  arrangements  which  he  did ;  and  the 
nobility  of  his,  and  the  nation's,  intention  has  been 
amply  proved  by  the  subsequent  labour  of  the 
British  ofiicials,  who  have  sacrificed  all  the  com- 
forts of  life,  and  frequently  life  itself,  in  order  to 
toil  in  lonely,  and  often  pestilential,  stations,  under 
a  tropical  sun,  solely  to  make  the  fact  of  existence 
a  blessing  and  not  a  curse  to  these  down-trodden 
people. 

Meanwhile  in  Egypt  the  work  of  regenerating 
the  nation  was  moving  on  apace,  and  the  debts 
incurred  by  Ismail  Pasha  were  rapidly  being  paid 
oiF.     Great  improvements  were  made  in  the  irriga- 


Lord  Cromer  199 

tion  system  ;  and  under  the  able  direction  of  that 
indefatigable  engineer  and  administrator,  Sir  Wil- 
liam Garstin,  the  huge  works  connected  with  the 
Aswan  dam  were  undertaken.  On  all  sides  the 
prosperity  of  the  people  was  noticeable,  and  the 
security  of  the  situation  led  to  the  investment  of 
a  large  amount  of  European  capital  in  Egyptian 
concerns.  Lord  Cromer's  work,  however,  was  much 
hampered  by  the  political  situation.  Not  only  had 
the  hostility  of  the  French  to  be  continually  reck- 
oned with,  not  only  had  Turkish  intrigue  to  be 
fought,  and  the  rising  power  of  the  Egyptian 
Nationalist  party  combated,  but  also  the  Khedive's 
marked  Anglophobia  required  constant  repression. 
During  the  early  years  of  his  reign  Abbas  Hilmi 
had  come  more  than  once  to  an  open  passage-of- 
arms  with  the  British  Agent.  On  one  occasion 
the  Khedive  dismissed  his  Prime  Minister,  de- 
liberately refraining  from  asking  Lord  Cromer's 
consent ;  but  the  stern  attitude  of  the  British 
Agent  compelled  the  young  man  to  climb  down, 
and  the  only  result  of  his  assumption  of  power 
was  the  increasing  of  the  British  garrison  in  Cairo. 
At  a  later  date  he  took  every  opportunity  to  insult 
English  officers,  and  so  disparaging  were  his  re- 
marks, on  the  occasion  of  a  review  at  Wady  Haifa, 
that  Lord  Cromer  was  obliged  to  force  him,  on 
pain  of  dethronement,  to  make  the  proper  repara- 
tion, and  to  publish  in  the  Official  Gazette  an  order 
of  the  day  congratulating  these  officers  on  their 


200     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

work.  On  yet  another  occasion  a  mutiny  occurred 
in  a  native  regiment  which  could  be  clearly  traced 
to  the  Khedive's  instigation ;  and  when  the  ring- 
leaders had  been  arrested  and  sentenced,  Lord 
Cromer  obliged  the  unfortunate  prince  to  address 
them  publicly  in  words  which  were  dictated  to 
him,  thereby  for  ever  nullifying  any  influence  he 
might  have  had  with  his  troops.  For  two  or 
three  years  the  Khedive's  attitude  in  this  respect 
caused  him  to  be  regarded  as  a  patriot  by  those 
Egyptians  who  desired  the  cessation  of  the  Occu- 
pation ;  and  deputations  almost  daily  waited  upon 
him  to  congratulate  him  on  his  anti-English  policy. 
When  he  went  to  Constantinople  to  visit  the 
Sultan  on  one  occasion,  he  took  with  him  a  petition 
from  a  number  of  Egyptian  sheikhs,  in  which  they 
implored  his  Majesty  "  to  consider  their  position 
in  regard  to  the  stranger  who  had  established  him- 
self in  their  country  and  persisted  in  encumbering 
their  sacred  soil  with  his  abhorrent  presence."  The 
worthlessness  of  this  petition,  however,  as  an  in- 
dication of  the  public  temper,  was  shown  by  the 
remarks  of  one  of  the  sheikhs  who  had  signed  it, 
when  he  was  asked  why  he  had  done  so.  "  You 
see,"  he  said,  "  it  is  only  empty  words.  I  often 
say  to  my  camel  or  to  my  horse,  if  in  some  trifling 
way  he  tires  my  patience,  '  Curses  on  you  !  May 
Allah  strike  you  dead,  0  son  of  a  pig  ! '  If  I  thought 
it  would  really  happen  I  should  be  silent ;  but  I 
know  that  the  beast  will  remain  unharmed.     So 


Lord  Cromer  201 

also  I  know  that  the  Enghsh  will  stay  here  whether 
I  sign  a  petition  or  not.  What  does  it  matter 
then  ?  I  please  our  lord,  the  Khedive;  the  English 
remain  all  the  same,  and  look  after  my  interests, 
and  every  one  is  happy  all  round."  Then,  as  now, 
the  general  population  regarded  the  Occupation 
with  mild  tolerance,  here  and  there  slightly  tinc- 
tured with  gratitude  ;  and  it  was  only  amongst 
the  ranks  of  the  upper  classes,  whose  fleecing  of 
the  peasantry  had  been  mercilessly  checked  by  the 
British  administration,  that  any  rooted  discontent 
was  felt.  Nevertheless  this  spurious  nationalist 
movement  was  a  source  of  constant  worry  to  Lord 
Cromer,  for  under  the  guise  of  patriotism  the  Khe- 
dive was  able  to  carry  on  a  continual  anti-English 
campaign,  which  in  actual  fact  was  inspired  solely 
by  his  personal  desire  to  be  rid  of  the  British  ideals 
of  justice  and  humane  government. 

In  1904  one  of  the  greatest  sources  of  anxiety 
in  Egypt,  the  French  hostility,  disappeared  as 
though  by  magic.  The  public  does  not  now  gener- 
ally seem  to  remember  that  the  entente  cordiale 
with  France  was  made  possible  only  by  the  solution 
of  the  Egyptian  question,  and  that  Lord  Cromer 
had  a  larger  concern  in  the  agreements  then  made 
than  perhaps  any  one  other  man.  Egypt  had 
been  for  many  years  the  chief  bone  of  contention 
between  France  and  England,  but  now  good  for- 
tune placed  before  us  the  opportunity  of  coming 
to  an  agreement.     The  French  position  in  Morocco 


202     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

was  somewhat  similar  to  that  of  the  British  in 
Egypt ;  and  it  occurred  to  Lord  Cromer  that 
herein  lay  the  nucleus  of  a  wide  adjustment  of 
all  differences.  In  the  convention  which  was 
drawn  up  England  agreed  to  help  France  in 
Morocco  if  France  would  assist  England  in  Egypt. 
It  was  a  very  simple  adjustment  of  the  long- 
standing differences,  but  upon  that  understanding 
the  whole  fabric  of  the  entente  was  built  up ; 
and  it  may  be  said  that  had  Lord  Cromer  failed 
to  come  to  an  agreement  with  the  French  Govern- 
ment in  regard  to  the  Nile  Valley,  the  British 
army  would  not  now  be  fighting  shoulder  to 
shoulder  with  the  soldiers  of  France. 

The  removal  of  Gallic  hostility  to  our  regime 
in  Egypt  simplified  the  task  of  the  British  Agent 
very  greatly  ;  but  the  intrigues  of  the  Khedive 
and  of  the  Nationalist  party  still  continued  un- 
abated. In  1906  a  series  of  incidents  occurred 
which  may  be  described  as  the  culminating  point 
of  the  anti  -  English  campaign.  In  the  early 
summer  of  that  year  the  Turks  moved  a  number 
of  troops  into  the  deserts  of  Sinai  to  the  east  of 
the  Suez  Canal  with  the  intention  of  claiming 
that  territory  as  outside  the  sphere  of  Egyptian 
authority,  and  of  pushing  the  frontier  of  the 
Khedive's  dominions  back  to  the  borders  of  Egypt 
proper.  The  Porte  had  already  made  an  attempt 
to  gain  unbridled  possession  of  this  territory  in 
the  early  days  of  the  British  Occupation,  and  this 


Lord  Cromer  203 

second    effort  came   as  no   great  surprise  to  the 
authorities.      It  was    met,   however,   by    extreme 
firmness    on  the   part    of  Lord   Cromer ;    and   on 
May  15  an  ultimatum  was  addressed  to  the  Porte, 
which  stated  that  unless  the  Turkish  troops  were 
withdrawn   and  the  old   frontier  definitely  fixed, 
England  would   support  the  claims  of  Egypt  by 
the  whole  might  of  the  Empire.     In  view  of  this 
threat   the    Sultan    reluctantly    gave    up    all   his 
demands,  and  the  frontier  was  fixed  in  accordance 
with  the  Turco-Egyptian  treaties  of  the  time  of 
Mohammed  Ali.      The  Anglophobe  sentiments  of 
a  certain  class  of  Egyptians  were  now   at  their 
height,  and  there  was  a  very  grave  danger  of  an 
anti-English  rising  in  favour  of  the  Sultan.     Brit- 
ish officials  in  the  provinces  were   exposed  to  all 
manner  of  insults ;   and  I  recall  personally  many 
weeks  of  great  anxiety  when  the  massacre  of  all 
Christians   was    openly    advocated   in   one's   very 
presence,  and  the  lonely  days  in  remote  districts 
were  shadowed  by  the  hourly  expectation  of  dis- 
aster.     Then  came   the    news   that  some    British 
officers  in  uniform  had  been  attacked  at  the  vil- 
lage of  Deneshwai,  in  Lower  Egypt,  while  they 
were  pigeon-shooting  at  the   invitation  of  one  of 
the  local  sheikhs  ;  and  it  was  generally  felt  that 
a  rising-  was  imminent.     There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  these   officers  had  irritated  the  villagers  by 
a  somewhat  indiscriminate  acceptance  of  this  invi- 
tation ;  but  there  could  also  be  no  question  that 


204     E^ypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

under  normal  circumstances  no  more  than  a  quiet 
complaint  would  have  been  made.  As  it  was, 
however,  the  Englishmen  were  attacked  by  a 
savage  crowd,  and  were  obliged  to  run  for  their 
lives  back  to  their  distant  camp,  leaving  one  of 
their  number  dead  upon  the  roadway. 

Lord  Cromer  took  a  very  serious  view  of  this 
incident,  more  especially  since  it  showed  the  native 
disrespect  for  the  British  uniform,  the  prestige  of 
which  was  the  only  real  guarantee  of  law  and 
order  in  the  land.  He  therefore  insisted  that  the 
ringleaders  of  the  riot  should  be  tried  for  murder 
and  executed,  and  that  a  number  of  the  other 
offenders  should  be  publicly  flogged.  The  sen- 
tences were  carried  out  a  few  weeks  later  in  the 
village  of  Deneshwai  itself,  in  the  presence  of  a 
detachment  of  British  soldiers,  and  it  is  probable 
that  by  the  severity  of  the  action  a  general  rising 
was  averted.  The  execution  was  followed  by  a 
storm  of  protest  in  all  sentimental  circles  through- 
out the  world,  and  the  Egyptian  Nationalists  were 
loud  in  their  denunciation  of  British  barbarism ; 
but  I  think  that  mature  consideration  will  place 
the  blame  for  the  whole  affair  very  largely  with 
the  intriguers  at  the  courts  of  the  Khedive  and 
the  Sultan,  whose  object  for  some  time  past  had 
been  to  inflame  the  minds  of  the  inhabitants  with 
anti-English  animosity. 

In  the   following  year,   while  yet  the  country 
was   in  a  ferment,   Lord   Cromer   resigned.      His 


Lord  Cromer  205 

health  had  been  entirely  wrecked  by  his  long 
residence  in  Egypt,  and  the  disturbances  of  the 
last  years  had  worried  him  very  considerably. 
In  announcing  his  retirement  to  the  House  of 
Commons  Sir  Edward  Grey  was  quite  unable  to 
control  his  emotion,  and  that  fact  is  more  eloquent 
than  any  words  of  mine  could  be  in  recording  the 
obligation  of  the  British  nation  to  its  great  Pro- 
Consul.  Lord  Cromer  found  Egypt  in  1883  a 
bankrupt,  starving  country,  in  which  corruption 
and  injustice  were  rife,  and  where,  as  a  traveller 
once  remarked,  "  everybody  was  bastinadoing 
everybody  else."  He  left  it  in  1907  a  prosperous, 
rich,  and  civilised  land,  where  even  the  symptoms 
of  unrest  appear  to  have  been  but  an  indication  of 
the  renewed  vitality  of  the  people. 


2o6 


CHAPTER    VI. 


SIR     ELDON      GORST. 


During  the  days  of  Sir  Eldon  Gorst's  rule  in 
Egypt  one  heard  a  great  deal  about  the  "  muddle" 
in  that  country,  and  the  old  "  Egyptian  question  " 
was  constantly  under  discussion.  On  all  sides  the 
complaints  of  dissatisfied  officials  were  heard,  and 
one  was  told  that  the  land  had  gone  to  the  deuce. 
Now,  actually,  there  was  no  muddle.  There  were 
numerous  things  which  were  wrong  and  out  of 
order,  sufficient,  in  fact,  to  give  Colonel  Roosevelt 
some  justification  for  his  famous  remarks  at  the 
Guildhall,  when  he  advised  his  English  friends 
"  either  to  govern  or  to  get  out";  there  were  a  great 
many  Departmental  hitches  and  obstructions  ;  and 
there  were  several  large  matters  which  were  en- 
cumbering and  frustrating  the  Government  as  a 
whole.  But  the  situation  was  not  confused,  and 
the  forward  movement  of  the  country  was  merely 
hampered  by  the  ill-working  of  the  machine. 

At  the  time  when  Sir  Eldon  took  up  office  in 
1907    the   situation    was    extremely   grave.      The 


Sir  Eldon  Gorst  207 

retirement  of  Lord  Cromer  was  mainly  induced 
by  the  fact  that  he  did  not  consider  his  health 
good  enough  to  stand  the  strain  of  so  serious  a 
crisis  as  that  which  had  to  be  faced.  He  must 
have  felt  that  there  was  some  likelihood  of  his  grip 
being  somewhat  relaxed  as  his  physical  strength 
gave  way.  He  was  pressed  on  all  sides  by  a 
hundred  anxieties,  and  he  realised  that  his  enemies 
were  taking  courage  from  the  belief  that  he  was 
past  his  prime.  It  was  the  crowning  merit  of  his 
great  career  in  Egypt  that  he  was  willing  to  hand 
the  command  over  to  a  younger  man  at  the 
moment  when  he  felt  himself  not  in  proper 
fighting  condition  to  meet  the  emergencies  of 
the  time. 

The  tragedy  of  Deneshwai  in  1906  was  still  in 
the  forefront  of  men's  minds.  British  officers  in 
uniform  had  been  attacked,  and  one  of  them  had 
succumbed,  within  a  few  miles  of  their  camp ;  and, 
apart  from  all  other  considerations,  this  outrage 
was  to  be  interpreted  as  meaning  that  the  very 
symbols  and  insignia  of  British  authority  were 
despised  and  disregarded.  The  misunderstanding 
with  Turkey  in  connection  with  the  Sinaitic 
frontier  had  caused  a  more  than  usually  excited 
outburst  of  anti-British  feeling ;  and,  had  there 
been  war,  it  is  possible  that  the  Egyptian  army 
would  have  mutinied.  Bumours  of  forthcoming 
massacres  of  Christians  were  frequent,  and  more 
than    once    the    date   was    fixed    for    a    general 


2o8     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

slaughter.  Both  in  1906  and  1907  a  rising, 
directed  against  the  Enghsh,  was  confidently 
expected;  and  there  was  one  well -remembered 
night  in  Cairo  when  a  total  absence  of  British 
officers  from  the  clubs  and  places  of  amusement 
revealed  the  fact  that  they  were  all  under  arms 
at  their  posts.  Massacre  was  openly  preached 
in  the  villages  throughout  the  country,  and  many 
Europeans  were  subjected  to  insult. 

The  Nationalists — that  is  to  say,  those  Egyptians 
who  wished  to  terminate  the  British  Occupation 
and  to  introduce  self-government — were  at  this 
time  an  extremely  powerful  party ;  and  the 
Khedive,  perhaps  chagrined  at  the  attitude  of  the 
Agency  towards  him,  was  openly  inclined  to  be 
well-disposed  to  the  movement.  The  Russo-Japan- 
ese war  had  supplied  a  powerful  stimulus  to 
Oriental  aspirations,  and  the  Egyptians  were  of 
opinion  that  they,  too,  could  rise  with  easy  rapidity 
to  the  level  of  a  first-class  Power.  The  financial 
crisis,  in  which  a  large  number  of  Europeans  and 
Egyptians  had  lost  enormous  sums  of  money,  had 
paralysed  the  Bourse.  The  nerves  of  the  whole 
country  were  on  edge. 

Sir  Vincent  Corbet,  the  Financial  Adviser  to 
the  Egyptian  Government,  had  sent  in  his  resigna- 
tion, and  there  was  much  confusion  in  that  Ministry. 
Sir  William  Gars  tin,  the  indefatigable  and  much- 
beloved  Adviser  to  the  Ministry  of  Public  Works, 
was  about  to  resign.     Major  Mitchell,  the  Adviser 


Sir  Eldon  Gorst  209 

to  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior,  had  also  to  be 
replaced ;  and  other  high  officials  had  acquainted 
the  Government  of  their  intended  departure.  Sir 
Elwin  Palmer,  one  of  the  leading  financial 
authorities  in  Egypt,  had  died  in  the  previous 
year  ;  and  the  health  of  Mustafa  Pasha  Fehmy, 
the  trustworthy  old  Egyptian  Prime  Minister,  did 
not  permit  him  to  retain  office.  The  appointment 
of  so  many  new  officials  to  the  important  vacancies 
added  very  considerably  to  the  difficulties  of  a 
situation  already  almost  desperate ;  and,  as  though 
purposely  to  increase  the  troubles  of  the  new 
Agent,  a  number  of  ill-advised  British  members 
of  Parliament  preached  open  rebellion  to  the 
Egyptian  hotheads. 

No  sooner  was  Lord  Cromer's  back  turned  than 
the  vernacular  Press  attacked  the  Occupation  with 
vicious  energy.  His  strong  hand  being  removed, 
the  reaction  set  in ;  and  the  native  journalists 
revelled  in  a  demoniacal  fantasy  of  abuse.  Lord 
Cromer  was  accused  of  all  the  crimes  in  the 
calendar ;  and  it  was  publicly  recorded  that  he 
had  left  the  country  bearing  with  him  many 
millions  of  pounds  stolen  from  the  Egyptian 
treasury.  The  Nationalists  freely  stated,  and 
seemed  actually  to  believe,  that  his  resignation 
had  been  brought  about  by  their  triumphant 
policy,  and  that  the  home  Government  had  re- 
quired his  removal  owing  to  his  stern  treatment 
of  the  Deneshwai  ruffians.   British  prestige  suffered 

o 


2IO     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

a  very  palpable  fall,  and  it  was  thought  that  the 
days  of  self-government  were  imminent. 

On  these  tempestuous  scenes  Sir  Eldon  Gorst 
arrived,  without  pomp  or  ceremony.  He  was  a 
small,  ill-dressed,  spectacled  man  of  some  forty-six 
years,  with  a  determined,  but  not  distinguished, 
bearing.  It  was  already  known,  and  soon  observed 
again,  that  he  disliked  notoriety.  He  walked  on 
foot  through  the  streets  of  Cairo,  jostled  by  the 
natives ;  or,  bareheaded  and  sometimes  collarless, 
he  rode  his  pony  amidst  the  noisy  traffic.  At 
times  he  drove  his  own  small  motor-car  ;  and,  in 
the  absence  of  a  chauffeur,  shouted  to  the  pedes- 
trians in  the  vernacular  to  warn  them  from  his 
path.  He  expressed  the  greatest  irritability  when, 
on  his  official  tours,  the  native  notables  presented 
him  with  the  customary  bouquets  of  flowers ;  and 
the  usual  mounted  policemen  who  were  despatched 
by  the  local  governors  to  ride  behind  him  were 
sent  about  their  business  with  a  sharpness  that 
was  absolutely  inexplicable  to  them.  Before  he 
left  Egypt  for  the  last  time  he  had  schooled  him- 
self to  bear  with  these  distressing  attributes  of 
Oriential  power  in  a  much  more  liberal  manner  ; 
but  on  his  arrival  in  1907  he  either  bewildered  or 
offended  both  natives  and  Europeans  by  his  ap- 
parent imitation  of  the  manners  and  customs  of 
that  most  democratic  and  most  despised  frequenter 
of  the  Nile — the  British  tourist. 

This  is  the  more  remarkable  because  in  his  public 


Photo  l>yY-.\.L.\OT  &  Fry.] 


SIR    ELDON    GORST. 


Sir  Eldon  Gorst  211 

utterances  he  had  declared  himself  desirous  of 
seeing  more  intimacy  between  the  native  point  of 
view  and  that  of  the  resident  Enoflishman.  It 
was  his  wish,  to  some  extent,  to  do  in  Egypt  as 
the  Egyptians  do,  to  sympathise  with  their  pre- 
judices and  to  give  no  unnecessary  offence  to  their 
susceptibilities.  Yet,  ignoring  the  very  essential 
need  of  discreet  ostentation  in  the  East,  he  held 
doggedly  to  an  almost  pretentious  modesty  and 
self-effacement  which  was  as  little  understood  in 
Cairo  as  it  would  have  been  little  noticed  or 
questioned  in  London.  He  knew  Egypt  very 
well,  having  spent  many  years  in  the  service  of 
the  Egyptian  Government ;  and  his  manners  in 
this  respect  are  to  be  attributed  rather  to  a  want 
of  consideration  for  public  opinion  with  reference 
to  himself  than  to  ignorance  of  native  custom. 

Sir  Eldon  Gorst  came  to  Egypt  in  1886,  at  the 
age  of  twenty- five,  as  Secretary  at  the  British 
Agency.  In  1890  he  was  made  Controller  of 
Direct  Revenue;  in  1892  he  was  appointed  Under 
Secretary  of  State  for  Finance;  and  in  1894  he 
became  Adviser  to  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior  at 
the  early  age  of  thirty- three.  In  1898  he  was 
made  Financial  Adviser,  this  being  the  most  im- 
portant position  in  the  Egyptian  Government 
open  to  Englishmen.  In  all  these  offices  Sir  Eldon 
had  shown  remarkable  abilities,  and  he  was  con- 
sidered by  Lord  Cromer  to  be  "  endowed  with  a 
singular  degree  of  tact  and  intelligence."     It  was 


:^ 


212     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

therefore  no  surprise  when,  after  his  sudden  and 
mysterious  departure  from  Egypt  in  1903,  and  the 
subsequent  announcement  of  the  entente  cordiale 
with  France,  it  leaked  out  that  Sir  Eldon  had 
been  entrusted  with  a  large  part  of  the  diplomatic 
negotiations  between  France  and  England  in  regard 
to  Egypt,  and  that  the  amazing  success  of  the 
arbitration  had  been  largely  due  to  his  dexterous 
handling  of  the  matters  in  dispute.  In  1904  Sir 
Eldon  received  an  appointment  at  the  Foreign 
Office,  but  resigned  this  to  become  Lord  Cromer's 
successor  at  Cairo  on  May  7,  1907. 

Such  was  the  rapid  and  eminent  career  of  the 
man  who  now  sat  in  the  great  house  at  Kasr  el 
Doubara,  staring  enigmatically  through  his  large 
spectacles,  while  the  political  storms  gathered  and 
broke  around  him.  All  eyes  were  turned  upon 
him  for  some  sign  of  his  policy,  and  it  was  not 
long  before  indications  were  given  of  the  direction 
in  which  he  intended  to  move.  For  some  time  the 
relations  between  the  Khedive  and  the  British 
Agent  had  been  strained,  and  Sir  Eldon  Gorst 
made  it  his  first  concern  to  institute  more  friendly 
feelings.  This  he  did  with  such  marked  success 
that  his  Highness  was  soon  completely  won  over 
by  the  careful  deference  paid  to  his  rank,  and  by 
the  cordial  attitude  adopted  towards  his  person. 
"Whatever  good  work  may  have  been  done  in 
the  past  year,"  Sir  Eldon  was  able  to  say  in  his 
first  annual   report,    "  is    due   to    the    hearty   co- 


Sir  Eldon  Gorst  213 

operation  of  the  Khedive  and  his  Ministers,  work- 
ing harmoniously  and  loyally  with  the  British  offi- 
cials in  the  service  of  the  Egyptian  Government." 

It  is  difficult  to  decide  whether  Sir  Eldon  fully 
realised  at  the  time  what  the  result  of  this  entente 
would  be ;  but,  since  the  effect  was  so  immediate, 
it  would  seem  that  he  was  not  acting  solely  from 
a  sense  of  duty  to  his  Highness,  though,  no  doubt, 
his  actions  to  some  extent  were  the  outcome  of 
a  genuine  sympathy  for  the  awkwardly  situated 
Prince.  No  sooner  had  the  Khedive  laid  aside 
his  differences  with  the  Agency  than  the  Nation- 
alists turned  upon  him,  accusing  him  of  disloyalty 
to  his  country,  and  threatening  to  dethrone  him. 
It  must  have  been  with  profound  satisfaction  that 
Sir  Eldon  watched  this  break  between  the  Khe- 
dive and  the  Nationalists.  The  latter  party  had 
suffered  a  severe  blow  by  the  death  of  their 
leader,  Mustafa  Kamel  Pasha,  and  now  many 
internal  quarrels  occurred  which  hastened  their 
fall.  With  the  Khedive  and  all  Egyptians  who 
were  loyal  either  to  him  or  to  the  Occupation 
against  them,  their  power  could  not  be  retained, 
and  very  soon  their  political  redoubtability  was 
reduced  to  an  irritating  but  not  very  dangerous 
agitation. 

In  his  first  year  of  office  Sir  Eldon  Gorst  took 
another  important  step  towards  the  overthrow 
of  militant  Nationalism.  The  vast  majority  of 
Egyptians  are  Mohammedans ;  and  as  the  Occu- 


214     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

pation,  against  which  the  so-called  "patriotic" 
movement  is  directed,  is  Christian,  it  became  a 
political  necessity  for  the  Nationalists  to  use  this 
religious  difference  as  one  of  the  main  planks  of 
their  platform.  While  the  leaders  wished  to 
convey  to  Europe  the  impression  that  they  were 
too  highly  educated  to  be  fanatical,  they  were 
constantly  using  the  inherent  Mohammedan  en- 
thusiasm as  a  means  of  arousing  the  nation.  Now, 
a  large  number  of  educated  Egyptians  are  Copts 
— i.e.,  Christians — and  the  Nationalist  party  had 
therefore  to  decide  whether,  on  the  one  hand, 
they  would  eliminate  the  religious  aspect  of  their 
movement  and  incorporate  the  Coptic  '*  patriots  " 
with  themselves,  or  whether,  on  the  other  hand, 
they  should  retain  the  important  asset  of  relig- 
ious fervour  and  should  dispense  with  the  services 
of  this  not  inconsiderable  minority  of  native 
Christians.  They  were  still  undecided,  and  there 
was  a  chance  that  the  two  religious  factions  would 
unite,  when  the  new  British  Agent  suddenly  ap- 
pointed Boutros  Pasha  Ghali,  a  venerable  Copt,  to 
the  office  of  Prime  Minister,  made  vacant  by  the 
retirement  of  Mustafa  Pasha  Fehmy. 

Again,  it  is  not  easy  to  say  whether  the  probable 
results  of  this  action  had  been  carefully  considered, 
or  whether  Boutros  Pasha  was  appointed  simply 
because  he  happened  to  be  one  of  the  most  capable 
men  available.  The  effect  was  immediate.  The 
Mohammedan  Nationalists,  insulted  at  the  exalta- 


Sir  Eldon  Gorst  215 

tion  of  the  Copts,  turned  against  their  Christian 
colleagues,  and  a  breach  was  effected  which  it  will 
take  years  to  close.  Soon  the  two  factions  were 
at  one  another's  throats,  and  at  last  Boutros 
Pasha  paid  for  his  elevation  with  his  life,  being 
assassinated  by  a  Mohammedan  Nationalist  named 
Wardani  in  February  1910.  Sir  Eldon  Gorst, 
who  had  been  watching  the  fight  with  a  somewhat 
sardonic  smile,  is  said  to  have  been  profoundly 
moved  by  the  tragedy ;  and  he  certainly  saw  to 
it  that  the  murderer  suffered  the  death  penalty, 
in  spite  of  the  most  carefully  organised  propaganda 
in  his  favour.  Sir  Eldon  was  at  his  best  when,  as 
on  this  occasion,  he  fougfht  the  enemies  of  law  and 
order  by  means  of  the  ordinary  legal  procedure  of 
the  country,  imposing  his  will  on  magistrates  and 
judges  who,  by  reasons  of  the  methods  employed, 
were  empowered  to  resist  him  with  impunity. 
The  Nationalist  leaders  had  sworn  that  Wardani 
should  not  hang,  and  when  the  black  flag  went  up 
over  the  prison  it  marked  the  turning-point  in 
their  attitude  to  the  Agency,  for  an  Egyptian 
always  knows  when  he  is  beaten. 

The  Copts,  abandoning  the  Nationalist  move- 
ment, now  turned  to  the  Occupation  for  support ; 
and,  deeming  that  this  moment  of  British  in- 
dignation against  the  assassin  and  his  party  was 
favourable  for  the  redressing  of  certain  wrongs 
under  which  they  believed  themselves  to  be  labour- 
ing, they  looked  to  Sir  Eldon  Gorst  for  encourage- 


2i6     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

ment.  They  received  none.  Sir  Eldon,  quite 
correctly,  considered  that  their  complaints  were 
groundless,  and  he  took  the  opportunity  to  tell 
them  so  with  some  sharpness,  thereby  estranging 
them  from  the  Occupation  as  effectively  as  they 
were  already  estranged  from  the  Nationalists. 

Thus  Egypt,  which  had  presented  a  fairly  united 
front  in  1907,  was  now  divided  into  four  distinct 
factions :  the  Occupation  and  its  supporters ;  the 
Khedive  and  his  loyal  adherents,  whose  fraternis- 
ing with  the  British  was  rather  superficial  ;  the 
Copts ;  and  the  Nationalists,  who  themselves  were 
much  divided.  For  the  first  time  for  many  years 
the  task  of  governing  the  country  was  made  simple, 
and  these  internal  dissensions  caused  a  set-back  to 
Egyptian  aspirations  from  which  it  will  take  many 
years  for  the  nation  to  recover.  In  1907  Sir  Eldon 
Gorst  found  the  British  Agency  besieged  by  an 
earnest  crowd,  all  shouting  for  autonomy  ;  in  1911 
he  left  the  Agency  disencumbered  and  calmly 
watching  that  crowd  fighting  with  itself.  But 
whether  we  have  to  see  in  these  events  the  in- 
tervention of  an  unscrupulous  Fortune,  or  whether 
we  must  ascribe  each  movement  to  the  Machia- 
vellian cunning  of  the  British  Agent,  is  a  question 
which  will  now  never  be  answered.  Even  the 
diplomatic  Secretaries  in  Cairo  were  totally  un- 
decided upon  this  matter,  for  Sir  Eldon  kept  his 
policy  to  himself.  One  prefers  to  think  that  he 
was  not  entirely  responsible  for  these  dissensions 


Sir  Eldon  Gorst  217 

and  squabbles,  for  it  is  a  form  of  cock-fighting 
which  does  not  commend  itself  to  British  senti- 
ments. Sir  Eldon  Gorst  was  not,  like  Lord 
Cromer,  a  born  ruler  in  every  sense  of  the  word, 
but  he  was  amazingly  clever.  He  was  extremely 
anxious  to  benefit  Egypt,  and  in  certain  minor 
matters  he  was  almost  ruthless  in  clearing  obstruc- 
tions from  the  path  of  what  he  considered  his 
duty. 

Meanwhile,  his  policy  in  regard  to  the  larger 
aspect  of  the  Egyptian  question  was  straight- 
forward and  logical.  "  British  intervention  in  the 
affairs  of  this  country,"  he  wrote  in  one  of  his 
reports,  "  is  directed  to  the  sole  end  of  introducing 
and  maintaining  good  administration  and  gradually 
educating  and  accustoming  the  Egyptians  to  carry 
this  on  for  themselves."  England  entered  Egypt 
in  1882  for  the  purpose  of  supporting  the  Khedive, 
who  nominally  represented  law  and  order,  against 
his  rebellious  subjects ;  and  she  took  this  step 
almost  solely  in  the  interest  of  the  Europeans 
resident  in  the  country,  or  those  who  had  financial 
interests  in  it.  The  Army  of  Occupation  remained 
in  Egypt  after  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion,  in 
order  to  maintain  the  peace  and  thereby  bring 
prosperity  to  all  classes ;  and  it  may  be  said  that 
the  healthy  financial  condition  of  the  country  is 
due  primarily  to  the  confidence  and  sense  of 
security  inspired  by  the  presence  of  the  British 
troops.     But  when  the  English  had  arrived  it  was 


2i8     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

found  that  the  entire  administration  of  the  Govern- 
ment was  corrupt  and  rotten,  and  it  was  not  many 
years  before  Lord  Cromer  decided  to  call  in  a  large 
number  of  English  officials  thoroughly  to  overhaul 
and  reorganise  different  departments.  England, 
being  on  the  spot,  could  not  sit  idle  and  watch  the 
mismanagement ;  and  it  was  certainly  her  only 
moral  course  to  set  to  work  in  this  manner.  Never- 
theless, in  order  to  quiet  the  agitation  of  those  who 
felt  that  annexation  was  now  very  near,  it  was 
officially  stated  that  it  was  the  intention  of 
England  to  educate  and  train  the  Egyptians  to 
govern  themselves.  Having  declared  so  much, 
Lord  Cromer  was  able  to  settle  down  to  his 
labours  with  a  will,  and  very  soon  the  whole 
machinery  of  government  was  running  like  clock- 
work, to  the  great  comfort  of  the  masses,  but  to 
the  annoyance  of  those  classes  who  no  longer 
found  fat  billets  awaiting  them,  and  who  had  now 
been  spoiled  of  the  opportunities  of  making  money 
by  illicit  means.  "  This  is  all  very  well,"  said 
intelligent  natives,  "  but  we  are  not  learning  how 
to  govern  ourselves  in  the  least ;  we  are  not  being 
taught,  we  are  being  ousted."  The  more  hot- 
headed Egyptians  went  further  than  this.  "  We 
are  already  as  fit  to  govern  ourselves  as  we  ever 
shall  be,"  they  declared,  with  some  truth,  "  and 
we  demand  that  the  English  shall  now  withdraw." 
Lord  Cromer  was  not  the  man  to  be  hustled ;  but 
gradually,  and  in  his  own  time,  he  took  certain 


Sir  Eldon  Gorst  219 

steps  to  increase  the  participation  of  Egyptians  in 
their  own  government.  The  concessions  thus  made 
were  attributed  by  the  now  powerful  Nationalist 
party  to  British  weakness,  and  the  demands  for 
autonomy  became  louder  and  more  violent  in 
consequence. 

Matters  were  in  this  ferment  when  Sir  Eldon 
Gorst  arrived ;  and  it  was  deemed  advisable,  both 
by  him  and  by  the  Foreign  Office,  that  England's 
policy  should  be  stated  in  clear  terms,  and  should 
be  backed  by  deeds.  The  world  was  therefore 
once  more  reminded  that  the  Egyptians  were 
being  trained  to  rule  themselves,  and  certain 
offices  previously  held  by  Englishmen,  on  becom- 
ing vacant,  were  handed  over  to  natives.  This 
caused  a  storm  of  indignation  amongst  the  English 
officials,  who  had  come  to  feel  that  Egypt  was  a 
British  possession  under  the  sole  management  of 
British  officials.  Sir  Eldon  Gorst,  therefore,  ad- 
dressed himself  in  his  1910  report  to  the  English- 
men in  the  service  of  the  Egyptian  Government, 
and  pointed  out  to  them  that,  by  the  terms  of  the 
unchanged  policy  laid  down  by  the  British  Govern- 
ment in  the  early  days  of  the  Occupation,  Egyptians 
had  of  necessity  to  be  given  offices  ;  but  that  his 
countrymen  need  not  on  that  account  fear  that 
their  positions  were  endangered,  for  self-govern- 
ment was  not  yet  in  sight.  As  long  as  the 
standard  of  the  Englishmen  employed  was  re- 
tained at  a  high  level  they  could  not  fail  to  be  of 


220     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

use  to  Egypt.  But,  he  added,  "the  only  justifi- 
cation for  the  employment  of  non-Egyptian  officials 
is  found  in  their  possession  of  qualities  which  do 
not  exist  among  the  natives  of  the  country." 

This,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  was  not  putting  the 
case  as  strongly  as  might  be  supposed.  A  first- 
rate  official  must  possess  honesty,  brains,  and 
activity  ;  and,  while  these  qualities  are  often  to  be 
found  in  combination  in  an  Englishman,  they  are 
very  seldom  united  in  an  Egyptian.  Nobody  can 
shut  his  eyes  to  the  fact  that  native  officials  are 
given  to  taking  bribes,  and  it  is  common  knowledge 
that  positions  which  have  yielded  to  their  English 
holders  no  more  than  the  small  salary  attached  to 
them,  have,  on  being  given  to  natives,  produced 
thousands  of  pounds  a  year  for  their  enrichment. 
A  wealth}^  landowner  is  always  willing  to  pay  the 
irrigation- inspector  a  few  hundreds  in  order  to  get 
a  larger  supply  of  water  than  that  to  which  he  is 
entitled.  Contractors  will  ofier  the  engineers  of 
the  Ministry  of  Public  Works  thousands  as  a 
bribe  to  secure  them  some  good  contract.  Judges 
are  peculiarly  exposed  to  temptation,  and  police- 
officers  are  offered  money  every  day  of  their  lives. 
Englishmen,  on  the  other  hand,  are  absolutely  free 
from  this  taint,  and  they  therefore  do  "  possess 
qualities  which  do  not  exist  amongst  the  natives  " 
as  a  rule,  and  Sir  Eldon  was  well  aware  of  this. 

Nevertheless,  the  English  officials  were  con- 
siderably   disturbed,    and    the   slightly   increased 


Sir  Eldon  Gorst  221 

powers  of  the  Egyptians  were  deeply  resented. 
That  type  of  Englishman  who  was  inclined  to 
pursue  his  capable  way  without  regard  for  the 
fact  that  he  was  supposed  to  be  teaching  rather 
than  ignoring  his  Egyptian  colleagues  did  not 
attempt  to  understand  Sir  Eldon's  very  correct 
attitude.  4  He  regarded  the  British  Agent  with 
unmixed  feelings  of  bitter  mistrust  ;  and  Sir 
Eldon,  on  his  part,  did  not  always  hide  the 
irritation  which  was  caused  him  by  this  lack  of 
appreciation.  The  feud  developed,  and  the  un- 
compromising tone  of  the  Agent,  the  hard,  un- 
relenting, fearless  abruptness  which  characterised 
his  actions,  was  misinterpreted  as  vindictiveness 
— a  kind  of  inherent  nastiness.  His  policy  was 
entirely  misunderstood,  and  he  was  called  a  weak 
man,  though  nobody  who  came  into  direct  contact 
with  him  laboured  for  long  under  that  delusion. 

It  is  necessary  now  to  state  the  three  policies 
which  it  was  then  possible  for  a  British  Agent  in 
Egypt  to  pursue.  Firstly,  there  was  the  policy  of 
the  iron-grip ;  secondly,  there  was  that  of  the 
velvet-hand ;  and  thirdly,  there  was  the  policy  of 
the  guiding-pressure.  Let  us  first  consider  the 
policy  of  the  iron-grip. 

The  population  of  Egypt  consists  of  about  eleven 
million  peasants,  or  fellahin,  and  a  few  thousand 
educated  persons,  or  effendiat.  The  peasants  dress 
in  native  costume ;  and,  though  a  certain  per- 
centage of  them  can  read  and  write,  the  majority 


222     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

are  illiterate.  They  are,  however,  an  intelligent 
people,  clever  with  their  fingers,  industrious, 
imitative,  and  inquiring.  They  are  sober,  patient, 
not  unfaithful,  not  revengeful,  and,  on  the  -whole, 
law-abiding.  The  educated  classes  wear  European 
dress,  ape  the  manners  of  the  French  or  sometimes 
of  the  English,  and  have  their  heads  turned  with 
extraordinary  ease.  They  are  often  noisy,  officious, 
and  bullying.  Their  object  is  to  live  in  Cairo  or 
Alexandria,  where  they  degenerate,  in  many  cases, 
into  cafe-loafers  and  wastrels.  Their  morals  are 
usually  of  the  lowest,  and  they  have  Httle  regard 
for  those  injunctions  of  the  Koran  which  effect 
complete  teetotalism  amongst  the  peasants.  A 
minority  are  good  workers  and  are  popular  with 
Englishmen,  but  their  almost  unanimous  contempt 
for  muscle  and  backbone  leads  them  to  participate 
as  little  as  possible  in  the  more  active  labours  of 
administration,  and  thereby  estranges  them  from 
their  more  strenuous  white  colleagues.  They 
despise  the  peasantry,  who  are  the  strength  of  the 
nation,  and  treat  them  like  dogs. 

Thus  it  comes  about  that  the  sympathies  of  the 
English  official  in  Egypt  are  very  largely  with  the 
peasant ;  and  the  comfort  of  the  small  farmer  upon 
his  acre  or  two  of  ground  is  a  matter  far  nearer  the 
heart  of  the  British  inspector  than  is  the  ease  of 
the  effendi  in  his  office.  This  attitude  is  strength- 
ened and  justified  by  the  knowledge  that  the 
effendi  deems  it  permissible  to  fleece  the  fellah  .on 


Sir  Eldon  Gorst  223 

every  possible  occasion,  or  to  assist  him  only  on 
payment  of  an  exorbitant  bakshish.  In  1882  the 
effendiat  were  waxing  fat  on  the  tribute  extorted 
from  the  fellahln ;  and  it  has  been  the  task  of  the 
English  to  check  this  tendency  and  to  protect  the 
peasant  against  the  upper  classes. 

The  policy  of  the  iron  -  grip  stated  that  the 
interests  of  the  fellahin  had  thus  to  be  safe- 
guarded, and  that  this  could  only  be  accomplished 
by  the  very  thorough  sitting  upon  the  upper 
ten  thousand.  The  native  official,  being  corrupt 
and  prone  to  bribery,  was  to  be  kept  out  of 
administrative  positions  as  much  as  possible,  such 
offices  being  given  to  Englishmen,  who  might 
always  be  trusted  to  do  justice  and  to  deal  fairly 
without  hope  of  reward.  The  Government,  in 
fact,  was  to  be  largely  taken  out  of  the  hands 
of  the  Egyptians ;  and  the  little  group  of  rather 
objectionable  educated  natives  might  go  hang  in 
order  that  the  huge  body  of  very  agreeable 
peasants  might  be  at  peace. 

Thus,  by  an  amazing  paradox,  the  autocratic 
rule  of  the  iron -grip  became  a  democratic  and 
popular  movement,  which  acted  as  though  it  were 
designed  solely  for  the  comfort  of  the  masses  at 
the  expense  of  what  may  be  called  the  aristocracy. 
Incidentally,  it  may  be  pointed  out  that  when 
certain  English  Labour  Members  of  Parliament 
came  to  Egypt  to  assist  the  Egyptians  to  obtain 
self-government,   they   were   actually  taking  the 


224     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

part  of  the  aristocracy  against  the  peasantry, 
and  were  enthusiastically  giving  countenance  to 
a  movement  which  aimed  at  empowering  the 
effendiat  to  tyrannise  the  fellahln,  and  which 
mio^ht  well  have  called  for  their  wildest  denuncia- 
tion  had  the  case  been  applied  to  English  people. 
These  misguided  politicians  acted  as  though  the 
cry  for  autonomy  arose  from  the  throats  of  the 
whole  Egyptian  nation.  The  thought  did  not 
seem  to  occur  to  them  that  only  about  two  per 
cent  of  the  Egyptians  were  asking  for  it.  The 
remaining  ninety -eight  per  cent,  being  more  or 
less  inarticulate,  though  none  the  less  thoughtful 
for  that,  were  not  considered.  As  well  might 
Mr  Keir  Hardie  and  his  friends  have  accepted 
the  voice  of  Mayfair  as  the  sole  expression  of 
English  opinion. 

The  policy  of  the  iron -grip  pointed  out,  of 
course,  that  the  ultimate  granting  of  a  constitu- 
tion to  Egypt  and  the  evacuation  of  the  country 
by  the  Army  of  Occupation  were  not  in  the 
region  of  practical  politics.  It  felt  that  a  new 
situation  had  arisen  since  the  days  when  the 
talk  of  educating  the  Egyptians  to  govern  them- 
selves was  current,  and  that  the  happiest  solution 
to  the  difficulty  was  now  the  declaration  of  a 
British  Protectorate  in  Egypt,  or  the  actual 
annexation  of  the  country  by  purchase  from 
Turkey.  It  believed  that  the  encouragement 
and  development  of  certain   Egyptian    industries 


Sir  Eldon  Gorst  225 

would  provide  work  for  the  majority  of  the 
educated  Egyptians,  while  the  numerous  minor 
positions  in  the  Government  would  give  employ- 
ment to  the  remainder  of  that  class.  The  vast 
lower  classes,  meanwhile,  obviously  would  be 
only  too  delighted  at  an  indefinite  continuation 
of  the  security  and  justice  which  they  enjoyed 
under  British  rule.  Being  unhampered  by  the 
need  of  experimenting  in  individual  Egyptian 
capacity  for  administrative  work,  the  Government 
would  be  free  to  tune  things  up  and  to  make  a 
model  job  of  it. 

We  have  now  to  consider  the  policy  of  the 
velvet-hand.  This  policy  regarded  the  partial  or 
complete  evacuation  of  Egypt  in  the  near  future 
as  an  axiom.  It  declared  that  the  honour  of 
England  compelled  us  to  abide  by  our  original 
promise  to  retire  as  soon  as  the  Egyptians 
appeared  to  be  able  to  govern  themselves,  and 
it  wished  to  hasten  that  day  by  giving  the 
natives  every  possible  opportunity  of  trying  their 
hand  at  the  task  of  administration,  whether  their 
attempts  involved  the  tyrannising  of  the  lower 
classes  or  not.  English  officials,  it  said,  ought 
to  understand  that  they  hold  only  watching 
briefs.  The  Egyptians  should  carry  on  the  work 
of  the  Government,  and  the  Englishmen  should 
keep  a  fatherly  eye  upon  them  from  a  discreet 
distance.  All  natives  should  be  treated  with 
courtesy,  sympathy,  and  even  deference,  as  being 

p 


226     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

lords  in  their  own  country,  and  their  mis- 
demeanours should  be  reproved  with  gentleness 
and  should  not  lead  to  discouragement. 

We  will  take  two  cases  at  random  which  will 
show  how  this  policy  would  work.  It  sometimes 
happens  in  the  Egyptian  provinces  that  a  single 
rest-house  provides  accommodation  for  native  and 
English  inspectors  of  any  one  department.  Now, 
an  Englishman  may  be  on  excellent  terms  with 
his  Egyptian  colleague  as  they  ride  side  by  side 
through  their  district  (and,  in  fact,  it  generally 
happens  that  they  do  get  on  very  well  indeed 
together),  but  he  may  not  appreciate  him  so  easily 
when  they  inhabit  the  same  house.  The  manners 
of  the  two  nations  are  so  different ;  and  the 
Englishman  is  notoriously  narrow  in  his  belief 
in  the  correctness  of  the  habits  practised  by  him- 
self— bathing  daily,  airing  the  room,  changing  his 
clothes  sometimes,  refraining  from  expectorating 
on  the  dining-room  carpet,  not  hiccoughing  loudly 
in  public,  and  so  forth.  He  is  therefore  inclined 
to  resent  this  cohabitation,  and  to  demand  a  rest- 
house  exclusively  for  his  own  countrymen  and  for 
those  Egyptians  who  have  become  Euiopeanised. 
But  the  policy  of  the  velvet-hand  denied  his  right 
to  complain  :  he  was  serving  the  Egyptian  Govern- 
ment, and  he  must  put  up  with  the  proximity  of 
his  Egyptian  colleagues. 

When  an  English  inspector  sits  in  the  ante- 
room of  the  office  of  his  chief,  waiting,  with  native 


Sir  Eldon  Gorst  227 

officials,  for  an  interview,  the  policy  of  the  velvet- 
hand  declared  that  those  native  officials  should 
be  invited  to  enter  the  sanctum  before  him,  as 
not  being  foreigners ;  and  if  it  was  argued  that 
this  precedence  was  detrimental  to  British  stand- 
ing, the  answer  was  given  that  it  was  the  dignity 
of  Egypt  and  not  the  already  assured  prestige  of 
Britain  for  which  we  were  striving. 

The  policy  of  the  velvet -hand  attempted  in 
every  possible  way  to  increase  the  self-confidence 
and  dignity  of  the  Egyptians,  and  to  introduce 
them  into  the  councils  of  the  nations.  It  con- 
sidered that  the  small  upper  class  was  the  mouth- 
piece of  the  nation,  and  it  was  willing  to  confide 
the  interests  of  the  eleven  inarticulate  millions  to 
the  care  of  that  class,  believing  that  the  possible 
sufferings  caused  to  the  peasantry  would  not  be 
so  considerable  as  the  pains  endured  by  the 
Egyptian  patriot  who  saw  his  country  ruled  by 
the  foreigner. 

Thirdly,  there  was  the  policy  of  the  guiding- 
pressure — the  policy,  that  is  to  say,  which  directed 
the  Egyptians  along  the  path  upon  which  they 
ought  to  tread,  but  brought  pressure  to  bear  upon 
them  at  all  times.  This  was  the  policy  which  was 
pursued  by  Sir  Eldon  Gorst  with  the  sanction 
of  the  home  Government  and  of  Lord  Cromer, 
and  it  is  the  policy  in  which  all  serious  students 
of  Egyptian  affairs  should  have  acquiesced,  so 
long  as  Egypt  was  a  part  of  the  Turkish  Empire 


228     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

and  its  incorporation  in  our  own  Empire  was  not 
forced  upon  us  by  powerful  circumstances.  The 
poHcy  gave  the  Egyptians  a  certain  control  over 
their  own  affairs,  but  it  held  the  power  of  veto 
unquestionably  with  England.  It  felt  that  we 
had  no  right  to  take  Egypt's  freedom  from  her, 
so  long  as  that  freedom  was  not  abused.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  believed  that  England  had  a  certain 
right  to  be  in  Egypt,  and  it  deemed  it  correct 
to  ensure  the  acknowledgment  of  that  right  were 
the  country  threatened  with  interference  from 
Turkey  or  any  Western  Power.  The  English 
officials  were  urged  to  deal  sympathetically  with 
their  native  colleagues,  but  to  keep  an  eye  upon 
them,  and  to  exert  to  the  full  their  powers  in 
suppressing  evil  practices.  The  policy  stated  that 
Egypt  was  not  ripe  for  self-government,  or  for  the 
preservation  of  order  without  the  aid  of  the  Army 
of  Occupation ;  but  it  endeavoured,  nevertheless, 
to  give  the  native  every  chance,  and  to  place  him 
in  any  post  which  could  be  safely  given  to  him. 
It  felt  that  the  most  simple  definition  of  its 
conduct  was  that  which  explained  that,  owing  to 
England's  high  sense  of  the  rights  of  subordinate 
nations,  Egypt  was  being  submitted  to  a  series 
of  small,  thoroughly  supervised  experiments  in  self- 
government,  preparatory  to  possible  larger  ones ; 
but  that,  though  the  trials  would  be  continued 
as  circumstances  permit,  the  results  were  not  yet 
sufficiently  encouraging  to  allow  of  any  alteration 


Sir  Eldon  Gorst  229 

in  the  status  quo  during  the  present  generation. 
Meanwhile  it  endeavoured  to  do  all  in  its  power 
to  make  British  control  as  palatable  as  possible 
to  the  Egyptians ;  but,  believing  that  the 
effendiat  did  not  in  any  way  represent  the 
nation,  it  felt  that  as  yet  there  had  been  no  real 
or  unanimous  expression  of  disapproval  of  the 
Occupation  as  such. 

It  must  be  repeated  that  this  policy  involved 
the  making  of  experiments,  the  giving  and  with- 
drawing of  certain  liberties,  and  the  constant 
changes  of  portfolios ;  and  it  must  be  understood 
that  the  Egyptians  are  such  a  docile  race  that 
government  under  these  conditions  was  a  possi- 
bility, provided  that  the  guiding -pressure  was 
firm  and  the  controlling  hand  sufficiently  known 
to  be  recognised. 

Sir  Eldon  Gorst,  in  carrying  out  this  policy, 
made  the  experiment  of  giving  the  native  General 
Assembly  and  Legislative  Council  greater  powers, 
a  step  which  was  very  severely  criticised  by  a 
section  of  the  British  residents,  who  did  not 
realise  that  it  was  a  tentative  move  forced  upon 
the  Agent  by  a  sense  of  fair-play.  The  experi- 
ment was  a  failure,  and  Sir  Eldon  Gorst  did  not 
hesitate  to  admit  it.  In  his  last  report  he  turned 
upon  the  erring  native  politicians,  and  gave  them 
as  straight  a  lecturing  as  any  national  body  has 
ever  received ;  and  it  was  with  evident  relief  that, 
voicing  the  opinion  of  the  home  Government,  he 


230     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

felt  himself  able  to  put  an  end  to  the  experiment. 
The  attempts  to  increase  the  scope  of  the  Provin- 
cial Councils  met  with  greater  success,  and  no 
retrogression  was  necessary.  Both  Lord  Cromer 
and  Sir  Eldon  made  experiments  in  allowing 
native  Ministers  a  certain  freedom  of  action  in 
their  Ministries,  not  always  controlled  by  the 
English  Advisers ;  and  this  caused  a  certain 
amount  of  mischief,  though  the  policy  was  by  no 
means  a  failure. 

But  while  measures  such  as  these  were  giving 
the  Egyptians  the  opportunity  of  showing  their 
powers  and  failings,  there  were  two  matters  which 
called  for  some  show  of  the  iron-grip  on  the  part 
of  the  British  Agent.  Owing  to  a  number  of 
causes,  not  the  least  of  which  was  the  retirement 
of  Lord  Cromer,  crime  in  the  provinces  had  in- 
creased to  an  alarming  extent,  and  there  were 
many  cases  of  pure  brigandage  with  which  the 
police  seemed  to  be  powerless  to  cope.  In  1909, 
therefore.  Sir  Eldon  Gorst  introduced  the  much- 
discussed  exile  laws,  by  which  a  certain  class  of 
undesirable  was  liable  to  be  transported  to  a 
criminal  colony  in  an  oasis  amidst  the  wastes  of 
the  western  desert.  The  effect  of  this  law  was 
instantaneous,  and  the  crime  returns  at  once 
began  to  go  down.  In  the  same  year  the  Press 
Law  was  revived,  and  was  applied  on  a  few 
occasions  against  journals  which  had  published 
extremely  inflammatory  matter.     This  also  had  a 


Sir  Eldon  Gorst  231 

good  effect,  and  the  native  papers  became,  for 
a  time,  considerably  less  prone  to  frenzied  and 
often  obscene  ravings. 

The  fact  that  Sir  Eldon  gently  pressed  laws 
such  as  these  into  existence  through  the  regular 
channels  of  native  legislation,  and  applied  them 
with  very  considerable  caution,  led  the  public  to 
give  him  little  credit  for  these  measures ;  but  he 
did  not  on  any  occasion  invite  recognition,  and 
for  some  time  he  seemed  to  be  willing  to  be  mis- 
understood on  all  subjects.  It  was  only  during 
the  last  months  of  his  life,  when  illness  had 
affected  his  equanimity,  that  he  showed  resent- 
ment in  this  regard.  It  is  true  that  he  always 
disliked  that  class  of  men  who,  not  always  with- 
out reason,  sneered  at  him  from  the  recesses  of 
the  Turf  Club,  and  that  he  was  pretty  "  short " 
with  them ;  but  except  by  an  obvious  irritation 
of  manner,  his  annoyance  was  not  marked.  His 
last  report,  however,  written  during  the  agonies 
of  his  terrible  illness,  showed  that  the  continuous 
misrepresentation  of  his  actions  was  beginning  to 
affect  him.  He  was  aware  of  his  unpopularity 
with  the  majority  of  the  English,  who  did  not 
trouble  to  acquaint  themselves  with  the  difficulties 
of  his  position,  and  whose  one  Idea  and  desire  was 
to  act  as  though  Egypt  were  a  British  possession 
(which.  It  cannot  be  too  emphatically  stated,  it 
was  not).  In  his  report  he  pointed  out  that 
nothing  would  be  easier  than  to  rule  Egypt  by 


232     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

a  kind  of  martial  law,  but  that  such  a  policy  was 
undesirable  under  the  existing  circumstances. 

The  English  officials,  for  the  most  part,  failed  to 
realise  this  undesirability,  and  accused  Sir  Eldon 
of  weakly  pandering  to  Democracy,  while  the  care- 
lessness of  his  personal  manners  was  cited  as  an 
indication  of  his  lack  of  political  dignity.  It 
became  the  fashion  to  scoff  at  him,  and  Sir  Eldon  s 
keen  eyes  could  not  fail  to  observe  this  attitude 
of  hostility  towards  himself  and  his  policy.  "The 
task  of  one  race  controlling  the  destinies  of  an- 
other race  of  entirely  different  qualities,"  he  wrote 
bitterly  in  his  last  report,  "  is  one  of  extreme 
delicacy  and  complexity,  and  cannot,  unfortun- 
ately, be  solved  by  copy-book  maxims  and  high- 
sounding  platitudes." 

His  four  years  as  British  Agent  in  Egypt  were 
so  occupied  with  the  larger  problems  of  adminis- 
tration and  with  the  breaking-up  of  the  united 
opposition  to  the  Occupation  that  most  of  the 
Departmental  work  was  left  outside  the  range  of 
his  personal  supervision.  The  Ministry  of  Interior 
was  placed  in  the  hands  of  Sir  Arthur  Chitty, 
who  interpreted  the  pro-Egyptian  policy  of  the 
Government  in  such  a  manner  that  the  English  in- 
spectors under  his  command  felt  that  they  were 
made  to  take  a  very  back  seat.  He  was,  however, 
succeeded  by  Mr  Konald  Graham,  whose  policy 
was  admitted  on  all  sides  to  be  excellent,  uphold- 
ing, as  he  did,  the  dignity  of  the  English  officials 


Sir  Eldon  Gorst  233 

on  the  one  hand,  and  showing  cordiality  to,  and 
sympathy  with,  the  Egyptians  on  the  other.  The 
Ministry  of  Finance  was  placed  in  the  charge  of 
Sir  Paul  Harvey,  but  in  some  of  the  Ministries 
the  English  Advisers  were  perhaps  not  able  to  be 
as  alert  as  they  could  have  been,  and  a  number 
of  evil  practices  crept  in  without  attracting  their 
notice — such,  for  example,  as  the  delay  in  settling 
minor  points  of  business,  the  receiving  of  bribes 
by  native  officials,  and  so  forth.  These  matters, 
indeed,  were  beginning  to  receive  Sir  Eldon's 
attention  towards  the  end  of  his  life.  Having 
cleared  up  the  political  situation,  his  grip  was 
tightening  at  all  points ;  but,  nevertheless,  there 
was  some  reason  for  the  misconception  which  led 
to  the  following  criticism  made  in  a  native  paper  : 
"  The  difference  between  Sir  Eldon  Gorst  and 
Lord  Cromer,"  wrote  Al-Ahram,  "  is  that  the  latter 
interested  himself  in  every  detail  and  did  not 
compromise  with  the  officials  in  their  internecine 
feuds,  the  interests  of  England  all  the  while 
being  carefully  guarded.  In  Sir  Eldon  Gorst's 
days  these  interests  were  as  jealously  guarded, 
but  everything  outside  them  met  with  little 
attention.  It  was  as  if  he  had  said,  '  This  does 
not  concern  me.'  .  .  .  The  opening  of  a  new  canal 
was  Lord  Cromer's  greatest  pride  ;  the  killing  of 
the  Nationalist  movement  was  Sir  Eldon  Gorst's 
great  aim." 

Looking  back  to  the  days  of  his  tenure  of  office 


234     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

in  Egypt,  one  may  now  see  that  he  successfully 
carried  the  rule  of  England  on  the  banks  of  the 
Nile  through  a  period  of  great  danger  and  diffi- 
culty. His  policy  may  have  been  distasteful  to 
the  British  official,  but  it  was  fitted  to  the  temper 
of  the  times ;  and  there  can  be  few  now  who  do 
not  realise  at  last  that  this  peculiarly  perilous 
phase  of  Egyptian  history  was  most  correctly  diag- 
nosed and  treated  by  Sir  Eldon.  His  early  death 
from  cancer  removed  him  at  the  moment  when 
his  real  power  was  beginning  to  be  felt ;  and  had 
he  lived  a  little  while  longer  his  many  calumni- 
ators and  detractors  would  most  assuredly  have 
been  silenced.  He  would  always  have  been  open 
to  a  certain  amount  of  criticism  on  account  of  his 
manners,  which  were  never  gracious  nor  engaging ; 
but  those  w^ho  had  termed  him  weak  or  vacillating 
would  have  speedily  realised  their  mistake. 

I  should  like  to  quote  here  some  words  written 
soon  after  Sir  Eldon's  death  by  Mr  Ronald  Storrs, 
the  able  Oriental  Secretary  at  the  British  Agency. 
*'  In  the  midst  of  his  life,"  he  wrote  in  reference 
to  his  chiefs  death,  "  a  life  crowded  to  overflowing 
with  cares,  duties,  and  occupations,  a  life  inspired 
by  rapid  and  accurate  work,  perfect  knowledge, 
brilliant  talents,  and  noble  intentions,  the  courage 
and  the  intelligence  that  had  survived  the  storm 
and  stress  of  abuse,  calumny,  misunderstanding, 
and  sedition,  were  laid  low  by  the  most  dreadful 


Sir  Eldon  Gorst  235 

of  visitations.  What  Sir  Eldon  Gorst  suffered 
from  the  beginning  of  the  year  of  his  death  will 
never  be  realised  by  the  public,  who  imagined  that 
because  he  held  to  his  work  (though  he  had  aban- 
doned every  pleasure  in  life)  his  state  of  health 
could  not  be  really  serious.  That  masterly,  yet 
now  pathetic,  document,  his  last  annual  report, 
was  written  at  a  stage  of  his  disease  when  the 
patient  is  usually  kept,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
under  the  stupefying  influence  of  some  merciful 
anodyne.  The  proofs  not  yet  read,  his  pain  in- 
creased to  an  extent  which  rendered  the  perform- 
ance of  his  duties  quite  out  of  the  question.  He 
hurried  to  Italy  for  a  cure,  but  there  was  no  cure 
in  Italy  nor  England  nor  in  all  the  world  for  him. 

"After  the  operation  he  bore  the  despairing 
truth  with  perfect  calmness,  begging  only  to  be 
allowed  to  die  in  his  father's  home.  And  then, 
surrounded  by  those  he  loved,  he  was  allowed  to 
lie  in  ever-increasing  weakness  under  the  elms  of 
Castle  Combe.  There  he  could  ponder  on  the 
reality,  known  now  to  a  few  only,  but  destined 
surely  to  live  in  history,  that  he  had  fought  the 
fight  and,  where  the  world  saw  failure,  had  suc- 
ceeded." 

When  the  fatal  nature  of  his  illness  was  an- 
nounced to  him  he  expressed  a  desire  to  die  as 
soon  as  possible ;  but  when,  after  lingering  for 
some  time,  his  death  was  at  last  imminent,  he  told 


236     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

those  around  him  that,  in  spite  of  all  the  pain 
endured,  he  was  glad  to  have  lived  long  enough 
to  discover,  after  all,  how  much  he  was  beloved 
by  his  colleagues.  At  the  same  moment  the  news 
of  the  close  of  his  rule  in  Egypt  was  being  received 
in  Cairo  with  an  almost  general  sigh  of  relief. 


237 


CHAPTER    VIL 


LORD     KITCHENER. 


The  death  of  Sir  Eldon  Gorst  led  to  the  appoint- 
ment of  Britain's  third  Pro-Consul  in  Egypt,  and 
a  new  epoch  began  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile.  Its 
advent  was  marked  by  the  greatest  optimism,  for 
it  was  patent  to  all  who  knew  the  country  that,  in 
spite  of  the  uneasiness  which  had  been  felt  as  to 
the  Government's  general  policy,  the  situation  was 
peculiarly  undisturbed.  The  task  of  the  new 
Agent  was  not  beset  with  profound  difficulties  : 
the  work  lay  to  his  hand  uncomplicated  and  un- 
confused,  as  judged  by  the  habitual  Egyptian 
standards.  There  was  every  prospect  that  the 
Anglo -Egyptian  administration,  like  a  machine 
that  is  somewhat  out  of  order,  would  be  rapidly 
overhauled,  cleaned,  and  set  to  work  once  more 
at  an  accelerated  pace ;  and  the  adjusting  of  the 
mechanism  was  a  task  which  was  expected  to  be 
interesting  and  pleasant.  The  political  position, 
always  fraught  with  anxiety,  was,  for  the  moment, 
remarkably  disembroiled,  and  there  seemed  to  be 
nothing  which  would  interrupt  the  work. 


238     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

The  good  sense  of  the  home  Government  in 
appointing  Lord  Kitchener  to  the  vacant  office 
was  highly  to  be  commended.  His  prestige  in 
Egypt  was,  and  is,  enormous.  In  the  opinion  of 
the  natives,  he  is  an  embodiment  of  stern  justice 
and  kindly  sympathy.  He  represents  the  military 
power  of  England  ;  and  he  was  held  by  the  natives 
as  the  creator  of  the  Egyptian  army,  the  conqueror 
of  the  Dervishes  and  of  the  Boers,  and  as  the  Com- 
mander-in-Chief of  all  the  British  forces.  Many 
of  the  Arabic  papers  rejoiced  at  the  appointment. 
Al-Ahram,  for  example,  wrote :  "If  we  are  to  be 
ruled,  let  us  be  ruled  by  a  manly  man.  Lord 
Kitchener's  appointment  should  be  welcome,  since 
he  is  so  well  known  to  us.  His  justice  in  the 
army  is  proverbial,  and  Egypt  is  hungry  for 
justice." 

Lord  Kitchener's  reputation  alone  was  expected 
to  overcome  the  majority  of  the  difficulties  which 
beset  the  diplomatic  path  in  Egypt.  It  was  felt 
that  he  would  not  be  subjected  to  the  insults  of  the 
native  Press  so  freely  as  was  Sir  Eldon  Gorst ;  for, 
whereas  a  diplomat  with  what  sometimes  appeared 
to  be  democratic  tendencies  could  not  be  expected 
to  retaliate,  a  mighty  soldier  whose  word  seemed 
to  be  law  to  Britain's  world-encircling  armies  was 
not  a  person  to  be  trifled  with.  Every  one  realised 
that  his  appearance  at  any  Government  office 
would  set  the  knees  of  every  dishonest  clerk 
knocking    together,    whereas    Sir    Eldon   Gorst's 


Lord  Kitchener  239 

presence  merely  aroused  a  gaping  interest.  And 
the  General  Assembly  or  Council  of  Ministers 
was  likely  to  pay  the  respect  to  Lord  Kitchener 
which  they  were  only  beginning  to  show  to  Sir 
Eldon  Gorst  after  four  hard  years.  Thanks  to 
those  years,  the  task  of  governing  Egypt  now 
seemed  simple  to  any  strong  man,  and  the  merest 
child's-play  to  a  born  ruler  such  as  Lord  Kitchener. 
The  situation,  however,  was  more  complicated 
than  it  appeared  to  be.  The  29th  of  September 
1911  was  Lord  Kitchener's  first  day  as  British 
Agent  in  Cairo.  On  the  very  next  day  Italy  sent 
her  ultimatum  to  Turkey,  and  on  October  1 ,  1911, 
declared  war  upon  the  Ottoman  Empire,  of  which 
Egypt  formed  an  integral  part.  For  many  years 
the  Italians  had  coveted  that  portion  of  the  North 
African  coast  which  lies  opposite  to  their  native 
shores  ;  and  both  in  speeches  and  in  books  their 
statesmen  had  advocated  with  the  greatest 
vehemence  the  seizure  of  Tripoli.  Italy's  only 
rival  in  this  proposed  game  of  "grab"  was  Ger- 
many ;  and  when  events  in  Morocco  were  beginning 
to  point  to  Germany's  failure  to  obtain  any  footing 
in  that  country,  there  was  some  reason  to  suppose 
that  the  Kaiser  would  turn  his  attention  to  Tripoli. 
The  Italians,  therefore,  felt  that  if  the  desired 
territory  was  not  to  slip  from  their  grasp,  they 
must  seize  upon  it  without  delay.  Preparations 
for  war  were  hurriedly  made,  and  already  in  the 
early  summer  of  1911  the  plans  were  formulated. 


240     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

Now  it  must  be  remembered  that  Italy  was  a 
nation  with  whom  we  were  at  that  time  aheady 
on  the  most  friendly  terms,  but  with  whom 
Austria  and  Germany,  in  spite  of  the  Triple 
Alliance,  had  many  bones  to  pick.  The  events 
of  July  1911  showed  the  Italian  statesmen  very 
clearly  that  the  strong  policy  of  England  and 
France  would  require  all  the  attention  of  Austria 
and  Germany  for  the  next  few  months,  and  that 
the  moment  was  thus  opportune  for  an  attack 
upon  Tripoli  which  would  not  be  impeded  by 
European  interference.  Austria  would  not  in- 
terfere, lest  in  so  doing  she  should  fail  to  be  ready 
to  help  Germany  in  her  war  with  England  and 
France,  which  at  that  time  seemed  imminent ; 
and,  in  view  of  that  coming  war,  neither  France 
nor  Germany  were  likely  to  worry  her.  England, 
however,  had  to  be  reckoned  with ;  for,  though 
our  attention  was  fully  occupied  in  Europe,  it  lay 
in  our  power  to  make  the  Tripoli  expedition  a  most 
hazardous  affair,  simply  by  permitting  the  Turks 
to  march  through  Egypt  to  the  seat  of  hostilities. 
Before  the  projected  expedition  could  be  launched, 
therefore,  it  was  necessary  for  Italy  to  ascertain 
the  attitude  of  England,  and  to  obtain  her  promise 
to  hold  Egypt  neutral.  This  promise,  however, 
could  not  be  lightly  given,  for  it  might  lead  to 
grave  complications  with  the  Porte. 

In  England  the  fact  was  not  generally  appre- 
ciated that  Egypt,  which  is  next-door  neighbour 


Lord  Kitchener  241 

to  Tripoli,  did  not  belong  to  Britain,  but  was  a 
Turkish  province,  merely  policed  and  controlled 
by  us  on  behalf  of  the  Sultan  and  his  vassal,  the 
Khedive.  In  1882,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  fore- 
going pages,  the  English  entered  Egypt  to  quell 
an  insurrection  which  had  jeopardised  the  Khedivial 
throne ;  and  our  Army  of  Occupation  remained  on 
the  banks  of-  the  Nile  simply  for  the  purpose  of 
preventing  further  risings,  and  upholding  the 
authority  of  the  Khedive  as  being  conducive  to 
the  maintenance  of  law  and  order,  Egypt  paid 
a  large  tribute  to  Turkey  yearly ;  and  the  Sultan 
did  not  raise  any  serious  objection  to  English  rule 
in  this  province  of  his,  because  our  presence  there 
insured  the  most  punctilious  payment  of  this 
tribute  and  maintained  a  state  of  profound  peace 
in  an  otherwise  rather  turbulent  portion  of  his 
empire.  So  great  a  change  for  the  better  has  been 
wrought  in  the  condition  of  Egypt  by  the  Occupa- 
tion, however,  that  it  was,  and  still  is,  felt  by  the 
British  Government  that  an  evacuation  of  the 
country  would  be  little  short  of  a  crime  against 
humanity.  Not  only  does  our  control  of  Egyptian 
affairs  prevent  the  oppression  of  the  peasants  by 
the  upper  classes,  not  only  does  it  insure  all  the 
comforts  of  peace  and  justice  both  for  the  native 
and  the  European  population,  but  it  also  procures 
that  sense  of  general  security  which  enables  the 
commerce  of  the  country  to  expand  and  prosper. 
At  the  time  with  which  we  are  dealing,  hundreds 

Q 


242     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

of  first-rate  Englishmen  were  employed  in  the 
service  of  the  Egyptian  Government  side  by  side 
with  Egyptians  ;  and  although  all  governors  of 
provinces,  all  heads  of  the  ministries,  and  the 
majority  of  inspectors  were  native  Egyptians, 
the  English  officials  were  able  to  exert  a  guiding 
control  of  the  administration.  These  English 
officials  were  in  no  way  connected  with  the  British 
Government,  let  it  be  understood.  They  became, 
for  the  period  of  their  service,  Egyptians ;  they 
had  to  wear  the  Egyptian  tarboush,  or  fez,  during 
office  hours  ;  they  had  to  work  on  Sundays,  Friday 
being  the  Mohammedan  Sabbath  and  day  of  rest ; 
they  received  their  appointment  and  their  dismissal 
from  the  Khedive's  Government,  which  acted  in 
the  name  of  the  Sultan  ;  and  in  every  way  they 
were  servants,  not  of  the  British  Government,  but 
of  the  Khedive  and  his  master,  the  Sultan.  The 
British  control  was  exerted  through  the  medium 
of  the  British  Consul-General,  who  was  supposed 
merely  to  direct  from  the  outside  the  general 
welfare  of  the  country.  Of  course,  the  British 
Consul  -  General  actually  governed  Egypt,  and 
regulated  its  administration ;  but  it  must  be 
clearly  understood  that  nominally  Egypt  was 
under  the  absolute  control  of  the  Khedive  and 
the  Sultan.  Egypt  paid  a  tribute  of  nearly 
£700,000  per  annum  to  Turkey ;  the  coinage  of 
the  country  was  issued  in  the  name  of  the  Sultan ; 
all  taxes  were  levied   in   his  name  ;  the  Turkish 


Lord  Kitchener  243 

flag  was  used  by  Egypt ;  all  military  ranks  were 
described  in  the  Turkish  language ;  the  whole 
Egyptian  Army,  with  its  English  or  native  officers, 
was  at  the  absolute  disposal  of  the  Sultan  in  time 
of  war ;  and  Egyptian  territory  might  be  occupied 
by  Turkish  troops  in  war  time.  These  Turkish 
rights  were  recognised  as  late  as  1892  in  an  official 
Jirmdn,  or  decree,  and  they  had  never  been  re- 
pudiated by  England,  who,  indeed,  was  pledged  to 
maintain  them. 

When,  therefore,  Italy  declared  war  on  the 
Porte,  and  seized  the  neighbouring  province  of 
Tripoli,  the  Turkish  Government  had  an  absolute 
right  to  march  its  armies  across  Egypt  to  fight  the 
Italians  in  the  next  province ;  it  was  entitled  to 
order  the  Egyptian  Army  to  assist  in  the  defence 
of  the  Empire  ;  and  it  had  every  written  authority 
for  demanding  the  Khedive's  assistance  in  money, 
materials,  and  men.  Egypt  was  the  natural  base 
for  Turkish  operations  in  Tripoli ;  for  the  sea 
being  held  by  the  Italians,  the  Turkish  armies 
could  only  reach  the  seat  of  hostilities  by  way  of  the 
highroad  through  Asia  Minor,  Syria,  and  Egypt. 
Thus,  there  can  be  no  shadow  of  doubt  that  Italy 
had  first  to  ascertain  England's  attitude  on  the 
Nile  before  the  project  of  the  invasion  of  Tripoli 
could  enter  the  field  of  practical  affairs.  If  Eng- 
land had  stated  its  intention  of  acting  according 
to  the  spirit  o?  thQ  Jirmdn  of  1892,  and  of  allowing 
Turkish  troops  to  pass  through  Egypt,  let  alone 


244     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

the  question  of  allowing  Egyptian  soldiers  to  fight 
for  the  defence  of  their  sovereign,  Italy  would 
never  have  risked  an  invasion  of  Tripoli.  That 
invasion  could  only  have  been  made  possible  by 
our  definite  assurance  that  Egypt  would  remain 
neutral,  and  would  prevent  the  passage  of  the 
Turkish  armies  through  its  territory.  Moreover, 
before  the  declaration  of  war,  Italy  had  to  be 
satisfied  that  the  British  control  of  Egypt  was 
sufficiently  powerful  to  prevent  a  revolution  in 
that  country,  which,  if  successful,  would  have  given 
Turkey  the  opportunity  of  marching  a  large  force 
through  the  Delta  to  Tripoli. 

At  that  time,  it  must  be  remembered,  a  European 
war  was  imminent ;  and  it  was  generally  under- 
stood that  Italy  was  about  to  join  with  Austria 
and  Germany  in  the  coming  attack  upon  the 
Triple  Entente.  Is  it  therefore  conceivable  that 
we  should  have  allowed  Italy  to  occupy  the 
territory  on  the  immediate  west  of  Egypt,  and 
should  have  risked  giving  the  gravest  offence  to 
Turkey  by  helping  the  Italians  to  do  this,  if  we 
had  supposed  that,  in  a  few  months'  time,  they 
would  be  fighting  against  us  and  menacing  our 
position  on  the  Nile  ? 

No  public  statement  was  ever  made  which  would 
indicate  that  the  British  Government  contracted 
any  agreement  with  Italy  at  that  time ;  but  there 
can  be  no  doubt  whatsoever  that  some  sort  of  under- 
standing was  arrived  at.     England,  it  would  seem 


Lord  Kitchener  245 

probable,  consented  to  prevent  Turkish  troops 
from  entering  Tripoh  via  Egypt,  and  so  far  as 
possible  to  put  a  stop  to  all  gun-running  or  other 
belligerent  enterprise.  We  appear  to  have  under- 
taken to  keep  Egypt  absolutely  neutral,  which, 
fortunately,  we  could  do  without  breaking  our 
pledge  to  maintain  the  existing  Turco-Egyptian 
Treaties,  wherein  there  is  no  actual  forbidding  of 
neutrality ;  and  we  also  seem  to  have  promised  to 
use  diplomatic  persuasion  to  prevent  the  Sultan 
exerting  his  undoubted  right  to  demand  Egyptian 
military  aid.  The  giving  of  these  concessions  to 
Italy  are  clearly  enough  indicated  by  our  sub- 
sequent actions  in  Egypt,  which,  as  will  be  related 
below,  were  of  a  very  deliberate  nature  ;  while  the 
despatch  to  Cairo  of  Lord  Kitchener,  the  one  man 
who  was  capable  of  keeping  Egypt  quiet  at  such 
a  critical  time,  and  the  outbreak  of  hostilities 
instantly  on  his  arrival  in  his  new  abode,  can 
hardly  be  attributed  to  mere  coincidence.  It 
seems  quite  evident  that  our  attitude  to  Italy  was 
as  follows :  "  Since  it  appears  to  be  inevitable," 
said  we,  "  that  some  European  Power  will  pounce 
upon  Tripoli,  we  in  Egypt  much  prefer  you  as  our 
neighbours  to,  say,  the  Germans  ;  and  though  we 
do  not  wish  to  offend  Turkey  by  actively  taking 
your  part,  we  will  show  our  friendliness  to  you  by 
holding  Egypt  neutral,  which  we  can  do  without 
breaking  the  letter  of  the  Turco-Egyptian  Treaty, 
though  obviously  we  infringe  the  spirit  of  it.     To 


246     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

act  thus,  however,  we  shall  require  to  send  a  very- 
strong  man  to  Cairo,  and  you  must  promise  not  to 
declare  war  until  he  has  arrived  there.  In  return 
for  our  kindness  to  you  we  shall  expect  you  to 
play  a  friendly  part  towards  us  in  the  event  of  a 
European  conflagration." 

Lord  Kitchener  thus  found  himself,  on  arriving 
in  Egypt,  in  a  situation  which  required  very  deli- 
cate handling ;  and  when  the  expected  Italian 
ultimatum  was  despatched  and  the  expedition  to 
Tripoli  at  last  became  a  reality,  he  was  called  upon 
to  face  a  possible  crisis  of  the  most  violent  nature. 
It  is  commonly  said  in  Egypt  that  had  he  not 
been  in  that  country  during  the  early  stages  of 
the  war,  the  situation  would  have  been  most 
dangerous.  Thanks,  however,  to  his  great  repu- 
tation, and  to  the  awe  and  reverence  in  which 
he  is  held,  the  country  remained  tranquil.  The 
Egyptians  were  delighted  with  his  politeness  and 
cordiality,  and  felt  that  in  him  they  had  a  friend 
who  would  show  them  how  to  act  in  this  difficult 
situation.  Their  sympathies  were  entirely  with 
the  Turks,  their  brother  Mussulmans,  and,  curiously 
enough,  they  believed  that  Lord  Kitchener's  pre- 
judices were  upon  the  same  side. 

Early  in  the  war  he  is  said  to  have  been  ap- 
proached by  a  number  of  Egyptian  officers  who 
asked  permission  to  volunteer  for  active  service 
in  Tripoli.  Lord  Kitchener  replied  that  he  would 
gladly  give  them  permission  to  do  so,  but  that 


Lord  Kitchener  247 

their  vacant  posts  would  have  to  be  filled  by 
junior  officers,  and  they  themselves  would  prob- 
ably find  on  their  return  that  they  had  been 
placed  on  the  retired  list,  not  by  his  wishes  but 
by  reason  of  the  upward  pressure  due  to  the 
congestion  in  the  junior  ranks.  He  advised  them, 
therefore,  to  curb  their  heroic  ambitions,  so  natural 
to  Egyptians,  and  to  stay  at  home  :  which  they 
did.  At  another  time  certain  notables  proposed 
that  Egypt  should  send  several  regiments  to  the 
aid  of  the  Turks,  in  accordance  with  the  Turco- 
Egyptian  Treaty,  which  England  was  known  to 
uphold.  Lord  Kitchener  said  that  he  would  have 
no  objection,  should  the  Sultan  make  the  request, 
but  that,  in  order  to  preserve  internal  quiet,  he 
would  be  obliged  to  replace  the  absent  troops  by 
an  equal  number  of  British  regiments ;  at  which 
the  proposal  was  hastily  withdrawn.  A  few  weeks 
later  a  deputation  of  Bedouin  chieftains  waited  on 
Lord  Kitchener  to  ask  him  to  permit  them  to 
gather  their  tribes  and  to  travel  into  Tripoli  to 
fight  the  Italians.  His  lordship  congratulated 
them  most  heartily  on  their  warlike  qualities, 
which,  he  admitted,  he  had  overlooked.  He  re- 
minded them  that  up  till  now  they,  as  nomads, 
had  been  exempt  from  service  in  the  Egyptian 
army ;  but  that  since  they  were  thirsting  in  this 
manner  for  military  glory,  he  felt  that  Egypt 
could  ill  afford  to  lose  them,  and  he  would  see 
that  they  were  conscribed  for  the  army  like  the 


248     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

fellahin.  To  these  remarks  he  is  said  to  have 
added  that  shght  suggestion  of  a  wink,  which 
is  so  well  understood  by  the  native  to  mean  that 
it  is  best  to  keep  quiet.  Needless  to  say,  they  did 
not  go  to  the  war. 

Thus,  with  the  greatest  tact  he  kept  the  country 
quiet,  and  even  managed  to  enlist  the  sympathies 
of  the  native  Press.  It  is  true  that  he  was  pre- 
pared instantly  to  suppress  any  paper  which  pub- 
lished inflammatory  articles,  and  actually  did  so 
in  more  than  one  case ;  but,  at  the  same  time, 
there  is  no  doubt  that  the  tone  of  the  editors 
was,  on  the  whole,  very  friendly.  Even  the 
violent  Shekh  Shawish  told  his  readers  that,  after 
all,  the  English  were  not  so  bad,  and  that  an 
amicable  understanding  with  them  was  possible. 
British  prestige  rose  to  a  level  to  which  it  had 
not  attained  since  the  first  ten  years  of  the  Occu- 
pation ;  and  the  various  English  inspectors  in  the 
provinces  found  that  the  attitude  of  the  natives 
towards  them  was  unusually  deferential. 

When  one  remembers  that  at  this  time  Christian 
Italy  was  attacking  Moslem  Turkey,  Christian 
France  and  Spain  were  taking  possession  of  Moslem 
Morocco,  and  Christian  Kussia  was  preparing  to 
advance  into  Moslem  Persia,  an  outbreak  of  anti- 
Christian  feeling  in  Egypt  was  naturally  to  be 
expected ;  and  it  came  as  no  surprise,  therefore, 
when  a  riot  occurred  in  Alexandria  which,  for  a 
short   time,   had    a  very  ugly   appearance.      One 


Lord  Kitchener  249 

day  towards  the  end  of  October  news  reached 
Egypt  that  the  Turks  had  driven  the  Itahans 
out  of  Tripoli,  and  that  the  war  was  at  an  end. 
This  was  received  with  the  utmost  joy  by  the 
low  -  class  inhabitants  of  Alexandria,  who  are 
seldom  on  good  terms  with  the  Italians  living 
in  their  midst ;  and  they  began  to  act  in  much 
the  same  manner  as  that  in  which  Londoners 
behaved  after  the  relief  of  Mafeking.  They 
paraded  the  streets,  shouting  and  singing,  and 
in  many  cases  they  playfully  insulted  the  Italians 
with  whom  they  met,  knocking  their  hats  off  and 
hustling  them.  The  victims  at  once  took  fright, 
and,  the  news  being  spread,  the  mob  was  met  at 
a  certain  street  corner  by  a  compact  body  of 
Italians,  who  opened  fire  upon  them  with  their 
revolvers,  with  the  result  that  two  or  three  natives 
were  killed  and  several  wounded.  The  police  man- 
aged to  disperse  the  crowd,  and  on  the  next  day 
when  the  demonstration  was  renewed  the  hoses  of 
the  municipal  fire-engines  were  turned  upon  the 
mob,  and  order  was  quickly  restored.  A  detach- 
ment of  British  marines  and  bluejackets,  which 
was  landed  from  one  of  the  battleships  in  the 
harbour  for  the  ostensible  purpose  of  carrying  out 
certain  ordinary  manoeuvres,  was  received  with 
wild  enthusiasm  by  the  European  population,  as 
though  it  had  come  to  save  them  from  dire  peril. 
In  Cairo  on  the  same  day  there  was  a  small  dis- 
turbance in  the  native  quarter ;  and  an  old  man 


250     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

was  arrested  in  the  bazaars  for  preaching  the 
Holy  War.  A  much-exaggerated  account  of  the 
riot  was  cabled  to  certain  London  newspapers, 
and  caused  a  flutter  of  nervousness  which  was 
entirely  unjustified  by  the  facts. 

When  the  date  of  King  George's  passage  through 
the  Suez  Canal  on  his  return  from  the  Corona- 
tion Durbar  in  India  drew  near,  the  Egyptian 
Nationalists  evinced  a  keen  desire  that  a  Turkish 
prince  of  the  Imperial  House  should  be  present 
at  Port  Said  to  greet  His  Majesty,  it  being  felt 
by  them  that  in  this  manner  they  might  demon- 
strate to  the  world  that  Egypt  really  was  a  part 
of  the  Turkish  Empire.  Lord  Kitchener,  wishing 
to  show  friendliness  to  the  Porte  in  order  to  mollify 
any  ill-feeling  that  might  there  exist  in  regard  to 
the  neutrality  of  Egypt,  consented  to  the  proposed 
meeting,  so  far  as  he  was  concerned,  and  in  due 
course  it  was  arranged.  The  Turkish  prince  who 
was  sent  over  to  Port  Said  had  lived  for  so  many 
years  as  a  prisoner  in  Constantinople  during  the 
reign  of  the  deposed  Sultan  that  his  manners  are 
said  to  have  been  astonishingly  inelegant,  and  his 
natural  awkwardness  was  accentuated  by  the  fact 
that  he  could  only  speak  Turkish.  Coming  across 
the  Mediterranean  he  was  terribly  sea-sick,  and 
thus  his  appearance  on  his  arrival  was  not  of  the 
kind  which  was  likely  to  inspire  respect  in  the 
minds  of  the  critical  Egyptians.  On  board  the 
yacht  Medina  at  Port  Said   he   is  said,  perhaps 


Lord  Kitchener  251 

on  doubtful  authority,  to  have  sat  in  the  sun 
contentedly  picking  his  teeth,  or  playing  with 
the  buttons  of  his  trousers,  while  the  very  smart 
and  absolutely  European  Khedive — vassal  of  the 
Porte  —  discussed  high  affairs  of  State  with  the 
King. 

Very  soon  it  was  apparent  to  educated  Egyptians 
that,  far  from  the  Turkish  prince  honouring  the 
Khedive  with  his  presence,  the  Khedive  was  in- 
voluntarily placed  in  the  position  of  patron  to  this 
ill-educated  young  man ;  and  the  effect  caused  by 
this  reversed  status  was  more  far-reaching  than 
was  generally  supposed.  The  unfortunate  prince 
seems  to  have  had  a  somewhat  unpleasant  time 
during  the  three  days  in  which  he  was  the  Khe- 
dive's guest  in  Cairo ;  for,  owing  to  the  determina- 
tion of  Lord  Kitchener  to  avoid  all  risk  of  the 
Turkish  prince's  appearance  in  public  acting  as 
an  incentive  to  anti- Italian  rioting,  his  Imperial 
Highness  was  obliged  to  make  all  his  movements 
at  a  different  hour  from  that  which  had  been 
announced.  Instead  of  travelling  from  Port  Said 
to  Cairo  by  day,  according  to  the  official  pro- 
gramme, he  was  bundled  into  the  special  train 
at  dead  of  night,  arriving  in  the  biting  cold  of 
daybreak,  and  being  met  only  by  a  few  sleepy 
officials.  When  it  was  announced  that  he  would 
visit  the  Zoo  or  the  Pyramids  he  was  whisked 
away  in  a  small  motor-brougham  to  the  Museum 
or    to    Heliopolis ;    and    when    the    crowds    had 


252     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

gathered  to  see  him  as  he  entered  the  front  gate 
of  the  palace,  the  unprepared  loiterers  at  the  back 
door  were  permitted  to  gaze  for  a  brief  moment  on 
the  hurrying  little  figure. 

Thus  the  Imperial  visit  passed  off  without  com- 
motion, Turkish  confidence  in  English  friendship, 
and  Egyptian  confidence  in  their  own  superiority 
to  the  Turks,  being  at  one  and  the  same  time 
assured. 

Shortly  after  this,  however,  the  Italian  Govern- 
ment seems  to  have  made  representations  to  Eng- 
land with  regard  to  the  gun-running  which  was 
being  practised  along  the  western  borders  of 
Egypt,  and  already  in  December  it  was  rumoured 
that  a  detachment  of  the  21st  Lancers  was  to 
be  sent  to  the  frontier  to  check  this.  "You  see," 
said  the  oflScers'  mess,  "  we  must  play  fair  to 
Italy " ;  but  the  question  as  to  why  they  were 
to  do  so  does  not  seem  to  have  been  put.  On 
the  face  of  it,  our  friendship  to  Turkey  would 
seem  to  have  been  more  urgent  politically  than 
our  friendship  to  Italy.  The  effect  on  our  vast 
Mohammedan  possessions  of  an  entente  with  the 
Porte  at  that  time  would  have  been  great ;  and 
in  Egypt  it  must  be  admitted  that  our  easiest 
hours  have  been  those  in  which  we  were  on  friendly 
terms  with  Turkey,  and  our  most  anxious  hours 
those  in  which  our  relations  with  that  country 
were  bad.  The  Sultan  was  recognised  as  the  head 
of  the  Mohammedan  faith,  and  since  there  is  no 


<r> 


Lord  Kitchener  253 

nationality  in  Islam,  all  race-differences  being  lost 
in  the  community  of  religion,  an  insult  to  Turkey 
was,  at  that  time,  likely  to  be  regarded  as  an 
insult  to  every  one  of  the  ninety  -  four  million 
Moslem  subjects  of  our  King.  Yet,  in  spite  of 
this  recognised  fact,  we  took  the  strongest  steps 
to  prevent  any  aid  passing  from  Egypt  to  the 
Turks  in  Tripoli,  and  we  sternly  suppressed  the 
little  breaches  of  neutrality  at  which  we  might 
so  easily  have  winked.  And  it  is  to  be  remem- 
bered that  this  neutrality  itself  was  such  a  forced 
attitude  that  we  might  have  been  expected  to 
have  insisted  upon  it  as  quietly  as  possible,  avoid- 
ing actions  which  were  calculated  to  bring  our 
attitude  to  public  notice.  If  we  had  not  been 
in  Egypt  there  would  have  been  a  direct  road 
for  Turkish  troops  from  Constantinople  to  the 
seat  of  war,  and  in  all  probability  Italy,  if  she 
had  been  so  rash  as  to  attack  Tripoli  at  all,  would 
have  been  driven  into  the  sea.  Since  we  held 
Egypt  really  on  behalf  of  the  Egyptians,  how- 
ever, it  is  quite  natural  that  we  should  have 
more  or  less  disassociated  the  country  from 
Turkish  affairs,  and  until  reminded  by  the  Sultan, 
should  silently  have  ignored  the  ancient  statute 
which  declared  that  the  Egyptian  army  was  at 
the  disposal  of  the  Porte  in  time  of  war,  and  that 
the  highroad  from  Syria  to  Tripoli  was  open  to  the 
Turks.  But  surely  there  must  have  been  some 
urgent  reason  for  our  conduct  in  boldly  forcing 


254     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

this  attitude  on  pubhc  attention  by  mihtary 
propaganda. 

During  January,  the  Arabs  of  the  Eastern 
desert  which  hes  between  Syria  and  Egypt  began 
to  show  signs  of  restlessness,  and  there  was  some 
reason  to  suppose  that  they  would  attempt  to 
slip  across  the  Delta,  either  singly  or  in  small 
bodies,  in  order  to  travel  through  to  Tripoli  for 
the  defence  of  Islam.  Lord  Kitchener  then  built 
forts  along  the  Suez  Canal,  and  sent  troops  to 
hold  them,  thus  once  more  demonstrating  the  un- 
compromising attitude  of  England  to  the  Porte, 
and  calling  public  attention  to  our  vigilance  in 
preventing  the  Turks  from  receiving  any  help 
whatsoever  from  that  portion  of  their  Empire 
which  we  held  for  them.  In  February  certain 
well-known  Turkish  ojfficers  who  were  trying  to 
cross  Egypt  disguised  as  Arabs  were  arrested, 
and  were  sent  back  to  Constantinople  in  spite  of 
all  their  protests. 

Such  occurrences  as  these  show  clearly  enough 
that  we  had  an  understanding  with  Italy,  based  on 
our  desire  to  wean  her  from  the  Triple  Alliance. 
It  was  a  contract  forced  from  us  at  a  time  of  great 
peril,  when  it  was  absolutely  necessary  that  we 
should  secure  Italy's  support  in  the  great  war 
which  threatened  us.  It  was  England,  and 
England  alone,  who  gave  Italy  the  oppor- 
tunity of  seizing  her  coveted  portion  of  North 
Africa,   and   by  giving   this   to   her    we    won   no 


Lord  Kitchener  255 

less  a  prize  than  the  breaking  up  of  the  Triple 
Alliance. 

The  attitude  of  Italy  in  the  great  European  war 
came  as  a  surprise  to  most  people,  and  it  was 
generally  attributed  to  the  traditional  hatred  of 
the  Italians  for  their  Austrian  neighbours.  Cer- 
tainly this  was  one  of  the  contributory  causes  for 
their  attitude  ;  but  the  facts  here  recounted  suggest 
that  it  was  largely  due  to  the  obligations  to 
England  contracted  during  the  Turco-Italian  War  ; 
for  without  our  help  the  occupation  of  Tripoli 
could  never  have  been  sustained,  notwithstanding 
the  wonderful  bravery  and  dash  of  the  Italian 
troops.  Thus  the  refusal  of  the  Italian  Govern- 
ment to  take  arms  against  us  looks  very  much  as 
though  it  were  a  practical  application  of  the  maxim 
that  one  good  turn  deserves  another. 

We  may  thus  understand  why  Lord  Kitchener 
was  sent  to  Egypt,  and  we  may  now  see  the 
reason  of  our  actions  in  that  country.  The  risk 
which  we  took  was  twofold.  Firstly  there  was 
that  of  a  rupture  with  the  Porte ;  but  this  was 
not  a  serious  danger,  for  we  could  always  say  to 
Turkey  :  "If  you  make  trouble  with  us  we  will 
take  Egypt  from  you  altogether."  The  second 
risk  was  that  of  a  rising  in  Egypt.  Lord  Kitchener 
was  the  only  man  who,  by  his  presence,  could 
remove  all  chance  of  a  serious  outbreak,  and  very 
rightly  he  was  chosen  for  the  work.  Had  he  not 
been  available   it  is  doubtful    whether   we    could 


256     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

have  accepted  the  arrangement  with  Italy ;  for  a 
concentration  of  British  troops  in  Egypt,  which 
would  have  been  the  alternative  method  of  in- 
suring quiet  there,  would  have  been  awkward  for 
us  and  provocative  to  the  Moslems. 

No  sooner  was  the  Turco-Italian  trouble  ended 
than  the  outbreak  of  the  Turco-Balkan  war  brought 
new  anxieties  to  the  Government  of  Egypt.  The 
question  again  arose  as  to  whether  the  Egyptians, 
as  the  subjects  of  the  Sultan,  would  be  called 
upon  to  send  an  army  to  the  aid  of  the  Turks ; 
but  fortunately  the  Porte  did  not  wish  to  com- 
plicate the  international  situation  by  calling  up 
the  question  of  the  position  of  England  in  Egypt. 
Thus  Lord  Kitchener  was  again  enabled  to  advise 
the  Khedive  to  declare  his  neutrality ;  and  native 
opinion,  though  favouring  the  Ottomans,  remained 
calm  and  outwardly  indifferent.  When  the  defeat 
of  the  Turks  was  assured,  most  of  the  European 
residents  thought  that  the  British  Government 
would  quietly  annex  Egypt ;  but  actually  no  such 
step  was  contemplated.  This  restraint  was  due 
not  only  to  our  desire  to  avoid  any  action  likely 
to  add  fuel  to  the  smouldering  fire  of  German  and 
Austrian  jealousy,  and  thus  precipitate  the 
European  conflict  which  the  Triple  Entente  were 
labouring  so  desperately  to  avoid ;  but  it  was  also 
due  to  our  inherent  love  of  fair -play.  We  re- 
membered that  when  we  had  come  to  Egypt  in 
1882   our  declared  policy  was  to  maintain   "the 


Lord  Kitchener  257 

rights  of  the  sovereign  and  vassal  as  now  estab- 
hshed  between  the  Sultan  and  the  Khedive,"  and 
that  for  thirty  years  we  had  honourably  continued 
to  do  so,  in  spite  of  all  the  difficulties  involved. 
We  were  pledged  to  uphold  the  Sultan's  position 
as  overlord  of  Egypt,  and  though  Egyptian 
neutrality  was  declared,  we  still  saw  that  the 
tribute  to  Turkey  was  regularly  paid,  that  the 
Turkish  flag  was  flown,  and  that  the  nominal 
authority  of  the  Sultan  was  maintained  in  the 
many  ways  recorded  in  the  Turco  -  Egyptian 
Treaty.  It  would  be  hard  to  find  a  parallel 
instance  to  such  a  contradictory  situation  ;  and 
yet  it  was  the  only  safe  solution  of  the  matter. 
Lord  Kitchener's  task  in  Egypt  was  at  all  times 
facilitated  by  his  excellent  personal  relations  with 
the  French.  It  is  not  generally  remembered 
that  he  fought  on  the  side  of  France  in  the 
Franco-Prussian  War ;  and  the  recognised  fact 
that  he  would  "like  to  have  another  smack  at 
the  Germans "  provided  him  with  a  common 
basis  of  friendship  with  every  Frenchman.  It 
was  rumoured  that  the  British  attitude  in  the 
summer  of  1911  in  so  strongly  supporting  France 
in  Morocco  was  largely  due  to  Lord  Kitchener's 
influence.  In  Egypt  the  French  gave  him  every 
assistance,  and  there  was  an  atmosphere  of  com- 
placency in  this  respect  which  did  not  fail  to  have 
its  eflect  on  the  native  mind.  Thus  it  was  felt 
that  whatever  the  future  of  Turkey  and  Egypt, 

s, 


258     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

and  whatever  changes  the  next  few  years  might 
bring,  we  should  have  the  support  both  of  France 
and  of  Italy  ;  and  there  was  already  some  hope  of 
an  alliance.  The  English,  French,  and  Italians 
held  between  them  the  entire  coast  of  North 
Africa,  from  the  Atlantic  along  the  Mediterranean 
and  down  the  Red  Sea  to  the  Indian  Ocean ;  and, 
in  fact,  between  them  they  possessed  about  seven- 
eighths  of  the  whole  of  Africa  this  side  of  the 
Equator.  With  such  interests  in  common  an 
alliance  seemed  both  natural  and  necessary. 

We  must  now  turn  from  the  international  aspect 
of  Egyptian  affairs  to  the  internal  organisation  of 
the  country.  Lord  Kitchener  quickly  effected 
many  changes  in  the  Government  administration, 
and  gave  his  attention  at  once  to  a  surprisingly 
wide  range  of  subjects.  Sir  Eldon  Gorst,  as  was 
pointed  out  in  the  last  chapter,  was  so  occupied 
with  the  political  aspect  of  Egyptian  affairs  that 
he  could  not  find  sufficient  time  to  inquire  into 
the  workings  of  all  the  Government  offices.  But 
for  Lord  Kitchener  there  were  no  political  troubles : 
nobody  was  bold  enough  to  make  them.  His 
lordship  well  knew  how  to  humour  his  Eg/ptian 
friends,  and  how  to  reduce  his  enemies  by  a  word 
and  a  look.  Those  who  saw  the  former  leaving  his 
study  beaming  with  delight,  and  the  latter  crawl- 
ing from  The  Presence  with  the  cold  sweat  on 
their  brow,  describe  the  spectacle  as  trul}'-  wonder- 
ful.    "  He  put  his  hands  on  my  shoulders,"  cried 


LORD    KITCHENER    OF    KHARTOUM 
(As  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Egyptian  Army). 


Lord  Kitchener  259 

an  old  Shekh,  "  and  said  to  me,  *  Am  I  not  your 
father  ?  Will  a  father  forget  his  children  ? '"  "  He 
said  to  me,"  declared  a  British  civilian  who  had 
nursed  a  complaint  for  some  years,  '  Mr  Blank, 
if  there's  anything  else  you  want,  I  can  always 
find  time  to  see  you.'  "  His  cordiality  astonished 
both  English  and  Egyptians,  for  it  was  supposed 
that  his  manners  would  be  somewhat  severe ;  and 
this  fact,  combined  with  his  occasional  well-merited 
"  shortness,"  at  once  created  the  opinion  both  in 
European  and  native  circles  that  political  tran- 
quillity was  the  best  policy.  Thus  he  was 
free  to  look  into  the  workinofs  of  the  machine  of 
government  and  to  adjust  that  which  was  out 
of  order. 

There  was  hardly  a  department  which  was  not 
speedily  subjected  to  some  degree  of  scrutiny ;  ana 
not  one  of  the  Ministers,  Advisers,  or  Directors- 
General  continued  to  consider  that  the  last  word 
upon  any  subject  rested  with  himself.  Each  one 
turned  to  Lord  Kitchener  for  a  final  opinion.  In 
the  old  days  the  head  of  an  administration  would 
address  his  subordinates  with  the  words,  "  I  pro- 
pose to  do  so-and-so,"  or  "I  wish  you  to  act  in 
such-and-such  a  manner."  But  now  he  said : 
"Lord  Kitchener  proposes  .  .  .,"  or  "Lord  Kit- 
chener wishes  .  .  ."  Numerous  stories  were  told 
in  Cairo  in  this  regard,  and  there  was  probably  in 
most  of  them  a  certain  degree  of  truth. 

It  was  related  that  a  land  company  which  was 


26o     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

developing  a  certain  suburb  of  Cairo  wrote  to  his 
lordship  to  complain  that,  although  they  had 
offered  very  fair  terms  to  the  Ministry  of  Finance 
for  co-operation  in  the  making  of  a  motor-road 
which  should  link  them  with  the  city,  only  evasive 
answers  had  been  received,  and  the  matter  had 
now  dragged  on  for  three  or  four  years.  Lord 
Kitchener,  having  satisfied  himself  that  the  pro- 
posals were  satisfactory,  told  the  financial  author- 
ities simply  that  he  wished  to  motor  out  to  the 
suburb  on  a  certain  date,  and  that  the  road  must 
then  be  finished.  "But,"  they  objected,  "labour 
is  expensive  and  difficult  to  obtain."  "  Turn  the 
prisoners  on  to  the  work,"  said  he.  "  That  isn't 
possible,"  they  replied ;  "  we  have  not  got  a 
sufficient  number  of  warders  to  keep  them  in  hand 
along  a  straggling  line  of  that  kind."  "  Warders  ! " 
exclaimed  Lord  Kitchener.  "  What  the  devil  is 
the  Army  of  Occupation  doing  with  itself?  Let 
them  act  as  warders.  Please  see  that  the  work 
begins  to-morrow." 

On  another  occasion  the  work  of  building  the 
new  barracks  for  the  Army  of  Occupation  was 
held  up  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  Ministry  of 
Finance  did  not  feel  able  to  supply  any  further 
funds  at  that  moment.  That  able  official.  Sir 
Paul  Harvey,  the  Financial  Adviser,  was  inclined 
to  keep  a  somewhat  tight  hand  upon  the  purse- 
strings  ;  and  when  he  stated  that  money  could  not 
be  found  for  a  certain  purpose   the    matter    was 


Lord  Kitchener  261 

immediately  dropped.  He  M^as  not  accustomed  to 
be  contradicted.  In  regard  to  these  barracks  his 
inabihty  to  find  the  money  was  reported  to  Lord 
Kitchener,  who  sent  a  message  to  him  asking  why 
the  funds  were  not  forthcoming.  In  reply  he  sent 
a  detailed  statement  explaining  the  reasons  for  his 
desire  to  postpone  the  work.  Lord  Kitchener 
read  the  statement  carefully,  and,  so  the  story 
goes,  returned  it  with  the  curt  endorsement : 
"  Money  must  be  found  immediately,"  thus  estab- 
lishing his  right  to  control  even  this  most  auto- 
cratic Ministry. 

A  few  days  after  his  arrival  in  Egypt  a  rumour 
reached  the  Agency  that  a  certain  native  official 
in  Upper  Egypt  had  been  guilty  of  some  small 
offence  or  other,  and  Lord  Kitchener  thought  the 
matter  worthy  of  inquiry.  He  therefore  told  the 
startled  head  of  the  Ministry  concerned  to  send 
an  English  inspector  post-haste  to  the  spot — a 
journey  of  some  twelve  hours  in  the  train — in 
order  to  ascertain  the  true  facts.  The  inspector, 
being  accustomed  to  settle  matters  of  this  kind 
out  of  court,  and  feeling  that  the  case  did  not 
merit  the  public  scolding  of  the  offender,  wrote  a 
mild  report  upon  the  subject.  This  was  forwarded 
to  Lord  Kitchener,  who  is  said  to  have  read  it 
and  returned  it  with  the  following  words  scribbled 
across  the  corner  :  *'  I  asked  you  to  find  out  the 
facts,  not  to  whitewash  the  official." 

At   another  time   Lord    Kitchener   caused   the 


262     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

Ministry  of  Education  much  perturbation  by  de- 
manding that  a  number  of  schoolboys  should  be 
expelled  from  one  of  the  Government  schools  on 
account  of  their  having  incited  the  crowd  to  riot 
on  a  certain  occasion.  Both  the  Egyptian  and 
English  officials  of  the  Ministry  objected ;  but 
Lord  Kitchener,  knowing  how  necessary  severity 
was,  insisted  on  the  expulsion,  which  was  duly 
carried  out. 

Whether  these  stories  are  true  or  not,  they 
serve  to  illustrate  the  manner  in  which  Lord 
Kitchener  took  upon  himself  the  whole  burden 
of  government  in  Egypt,  and  made  the  Agency 
the  responsible  and  head  office  for  every  Ministry 
and  department.  Of  course,  this  may  be  described 
as  having  put  all  our  eggs  into  one  basket,  and  it 
was  argued  that  in  the  event  of  Lord  Kitchener's 
transfer,  retirement,  or  death,  the  chief  men  of 
the  Government  would  be  unprepared  to  assume 
responsibility  once  more.  But  it  was  this  very 
fact  of  the  probable  shortness  of  his  tenure  of 
office  in  Egypt  which  made  it  essential  that  he 
should  bring  his  mind  to  bear  upon  every  detail, 
and  should  make  things  "  hum,"  as  the  saying  is, 
while  he  was  there  !  He  undoubtedly  made  some 
small  mistakes,  but  in  all  successful  work  it  must 
be  remembered  that  to  get  things  done  is  more 
important  than  always  to  do  things  right.  Life 
is  not  a  game  of  chess,  and  the  players  have  no 
cause  to  sit  for  hours  starhig  at  their  pieces.     The 


Lord  Kitchener  263 

greater  game  contains  the  greater  possibilities  of 
success ;  and,  since  there  are  always  so  many  later 
opportunities  for  adjustment  and  rectification  on 
broad  lines,  the  first  rule  Is  not  invariably  to  move 
correctly,  but  to  move. 

As  actual  ruler  of  Egypt  Lord  Kitchener  re- 
sumed— to  the  mild  extent  prevalent  in  that 
country — the  pomp  and  circumstance  of  power, 
which  had  been  quite  abandoned  In  recent  years. 
The  dull  brown  colour  of  the  liveries  of  the  native 
servants  at  the  Agency  were  discarded  in  favour 
of  scarlet  and  gold.  A  state  ball-room  was  built 
on  to  the  official  residence.  The  dinner-parties 
and  other  functions  were  of  an  elaborate  nature, 
and  Lord  Kitchener's  own  splendid  service  of  gold 
plate  was  much  admired  by  the  Egyptian  grandees, 
to  whom  a  display  of  this  kind  means  a  very  great 
deal.  In  the  streets  of  Cairo  he  often  drove  in 
a  well-turned-out  carriage  and  pair,  preceded  by 
two  saises  or  out-runners,  who  cried  hoarsely  to 
the  people  to  clear  the  way,  while  the  native 
pedestrians,  duly  Impressed,  nudged  each  other 
and  pointed,  saying,  "  Look,  my  brother,  there  is 
El  Lor-r-r-d."  The  man  in  the  street  was  very 
fond  of  Lord  Kitchener,  and  his  appearance  in 
public  was  always  the  signal  for  the  collection  of 
a  small  crowd.  To  the  blank  amazement  of  all 
residents,  when  he  first  arrived  in  Cairo  he  was 
heartily  cheered  by  the  natives,  who  extremely 
rarely  give    expression    to   their  feelings    in    this 


264     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

manner ;   and  on  subsequent  occasions  of  import- 
ance his  reception  was  most  cordial. 

Lord  Kitchener's  attitude  towards  the  natives, 
and  towards  the  question  of  their  participation 
in  the  government  of  the  country,  was  in  principle 
the  same  as  that  of  Sir  Eldon  Gorst.  The  opinion 
of  Egyptian  Ministers  and  officials  was  scrupu- 
lously consulted,  and  they  were  led  to  feel  that 
they  had  some  voice  in  public  affairs.  Owing, 
however,  to  the  fact  that  the  British  Agent  was 
recognised  to  be  such  a  very  great  man — a  sort 
of  Grand  Vizier  and  Commander-in-Chief  and 
King's  Chief  Favourite  rolled  into  one — native 
argumentativeness  was  wonderfully  curtailed,  and 
that  carping  criticism  to  which  Sir  Eldon  Gorst's 
actions  were  always  subjected  was  no  longer 
heard.  The  Egyptian  is  very  quick  to  recognise 
his  master,  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  he 
is  most  happy  and  contented  when  he  is  conscious 
that  he  is  ruled  by  a  man  whom  it  is  no  dishon- 
our to  serve*  He  is,  in  his  own  fashion,  a  proud 
person,  and  he  finds  difficulty  in  giving  allegiance 
to  any  but  a  mighty  man  of  valour.  For  such  a 
one,  however,  he  is  prepared  to  silence  his  natural 
habit  of  talkativeness,  and,  conscious  that  he  is 
under  the  great  man's  eye,  to  work  quietly  for  the 
common  good.  Lord  Kitchener,  as  was  expected, 
had  very  little  difficulty  in  governing  Egypt,  and 
so  long  as  he  remained  in  the  country  complete 
tranquillity  reigned. 


Lord  Kitchener  265 

During  the  two  and  a  half  years  of  his  tenure 
of  office  in  Cairo,  all  manner  of  reforms  were  in- 
stituted, especially  in  regard  to  agriculture  and 
irrigation.  A  new  Ministry  of  Agriculture  was 
instituted,  and  many  improvements  were  made  in 
regard  to  cotton -growing,  which  is  one  of  the 
chief  sources  of  Egypt's  wealth.  Vast  irrigation 
schemes  were  undertaken,  which,  incidentally,  were 
freely  criticised  by  engineers ;  but  so  ably  were 
they  carried  out  by  the  genius  of  Sir  Murdoch 
Macdonald,  the  Under-Secretary  of  State  to  the 
Ministry  of  Public  Works,  who  is  one  of  the 
great  engineers  of  the  age,  that  confidence  in 
their  ultimate  success  was  generally  felt. 

On  the  whole,  Lord  Kitchener  was  fortunate  in 
the  group  of  Englishmen  and  Egyptians  who  were 
associated  with  him,  and  who  are  now  guiding  the 
country  through  its  present  crisis.  Sir  Paul  Har- 
vey, unable,  it  is  supposed,  to  approve  of  his 
lordship's  useful  but  bold  expenditure  of  public 
money,  resigned  his  office  as  Financial  Adviser, 
and  Lord  Edward  Cecil,  the  son  of  the  great  Lord 
Salisbury,  was  chosen  to  take  his  place.  The  new 
Adviser  had  served  the  Egyptian  Government  for 
many  years  ;  and,  as  was  expected,  he  proved  to 
be  a  sound  administrator  of  exceptionally  acute 
perception.  At  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior  Mr 
(now  Sir)  Ronald  Graham  successfully  carried  on 
the  best  traditions  of  Anglo-Egyptian  administra- 
tion, with  the  aid  of  a  very  notable  group  of  high- 


266     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

principled  and  hard-working  English  inspectors. 
At  Alexandria  the  complicated  task  of  bringing 
cohesion  into  the  work  of  the  cosmopolitan  and 
heterogeneous  municipal  councils  was  performed 
with  astonishing  tact  by  Dr  Alexander  Granville, 
to  whom  Egypt  owes  a  very  deep  debt ;  and  in 
Cairo,  Harvey  Pasha  acted  with  ability  as  the 
Commandant  of  the  City.  At  the  British  Agency 
Lord  Kitchener  was  assisted  by  a  very  able  staff: 
Mr  (now  Sir)  Milne  Cheetham,  the  First  Secretary, 
being  conspicuous  for  his  diplomatic  handling  of 
the  varied  situations,  and  Mr  Ronald  Storrs,  the 
widely  talented  Oriental  Secretary,  having  a  very 
masterly  grasp  of  the  complexities  of  native  action 
and  opinion. 

When  Lord  Kitchener  returned  to  England  for 
his  annual  leave,  in  June  1914,  there  was  not  a 
cloud  upon  the  horizon.  He  had  successfully 
steered  Egypt  through  the  manifold  difficulties 
of  the  two  Turkish  wars,  and  had  raised  British 
prestige  there  to  perhaps  its  greatest  height. 
Then  suddenly,  like  a  bolt  from  the  blue,  came 
the  news  of  the  Serbian  complication ;  and  in  a 
moment  Europe  was  plunged  into  war.  Lord 
Kitchener  at  once  prepared  to  return  to  Egypt 
to  hold  the  country  quiet ;  but  as  he  stepped  upon 
the  vessel  which  was  to  carry  him  from  England, 
he  received  the  order  to  take  charge  of  the  War 
Office,  and  therewith  he  turned  his  back  on  the 
Land  of  the  Pharaohs,  probably  for  ever. 


267 


CHAPTER    VIII. 


THE   PROTECTORATE. 


While  the  Protectorate  of  Egypt  is  still  in  its 
infancy  it  is  very  necessary  for  us  to  have  in  mind 
a  general  outline  of  the  events  which  have  brought 
about  the  present  changes  in  Egypt,  for  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  a  great  many  of  our  actions 
during  the  last  few  months  are  open  to  criticism 
on  the  grounds  of  irregular  procedure.  Since, 
however,  our  moral  right  has  been  so  over- 
whelmingly great,  we  must  be  prepared  to  bear 
any  such  criticism  undismayed,  and  must  be 
fortified  against  the  attacks  on  England's  honour 
which  are  certain  to  be  made,  with  apparent 
justification,  by  those  who  can  only  see  the  very 
obvious  technical  carelessnesses  of  the  British 
Government,  and  who  choose  to  be  blind  to  the 
equally  obvious  high-mindedness  of  British  action 
in  general.  England  has  not  been  called  "  Per- 
fidious Albion  "  for  nothing.  As  Professor  Seeley 
once  remarked,  "  we  seem,  as  it  were,  to  have 
conquered  and  peopled  half  the  world  in  a  fit  of 


268     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

absence  of  mind  "  ;  and  in  Egypt  our  actions  lately 
have  constituted  a  very  typical  instance  of  this 
cheery  obliviousness  to  the  letter  of  the  law  which 
has  earned  for  us  from  time  to  time  the  mistrust 
of  other  nations.  When  we  know  by  a  kind  of 
healthy  instinct  that  we  are  doing  good,  and  that 
we  have  the  force  of  moral  right  behind  us,  we  are 
apt  to  prance  along  with  small  regard  for  technical 
niceties,  and  hence  the  nations  with  more  phari- 
saical  tendencies  find  us  a  very  rude  people. 

Let  us  review  the  development  of  the  Egyptian 
situation  which  I  have  endeavoured  to  outline  in 
the  foregoing  chapters.  When  the  Turks  con- 
quered the  Egyptians  in  1517  it  was  agreed  that 
Egypt  should  be  governed  by  twenty -four  native 
Mameluke  chieftains  under  the  supervision  of  a 
Turkish  governor,  that  a  considerable  tribute  should 
be  paid  annually  to  the  Porte,  and  that  12,000 
Egyptian  troops  should  be  supplied  to  the  Sultan 
in  time  of  war.  At  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  Mohammed  AH,  the  Turkish  Governor  of 
Egypt,  made  war  on  the  Turks,  and  would  probably 
have  dethroned  the  Sultan  had  not  the  Powers 
intervened  to  preserve  the  status  quo.  In  1842 
England  successfully  urged  Mohammed  Ali  to  sign 
a  treaty  with  the  Porte,  in  which  it  was  agreed 
that  his  descendants  should  hold  the  hereditary 
governorship  of  Egypt,  that  a  tribute  of  £412,000 
should  be  paid  annually  to  Turkey,  that  the 
Egyptian  army  should  have  a  maximum  strength 


The  Protectorate  269 

of  18,000  men,  who  should  be  at  the  disposal  of 
the  Sultan  in  war  time,  and  that  the  Egyptians 
should  be  regarded  as  Ottoman  subjects.  In  1867, 
Ismail  Pasha,  the  grandson  of  Mohammed  Ali, 
made  a  new  treaty  with  the  Sultan,  in  which  it 
was  agreed  that  the  ruler  of  Egypt  should  no  longer 
be  called  simply  governor,  but  should  have  the 
hereditary  title  of  Khedive.  The  tribute  was 
raised  to  £682,000  per  annum,  but  the  clauses  of 
the  earlier  agreement  were  more  or  less  maintained. 
In  1882  the  Powers  felt  it  necessary  that  some 
steps  should  be  taken  to  restore  order  in  Egypt, 
as  the  lives  of  foreigners  were  greatly  endangered 
by  the  revolution  led  by  Arabi  Pasha.  There 
was  much  delay,  however,  in  deciding  on  a 
course  of  action,  and  at  last  England,  having 
unsuccessfully  invited  the  co-operation  of  France 
and,  of  course,  of  Turkey,  invaded  Egypt. 
Our  avowed  object  was  to  maintain  the  Khedive 
upon  his  throne,  to  restore  order,  and  to  estab- 
lish a  sound  administration  in  this  province 
of  the  Turkish  Empire,  thereby  encouraging 
native  and  foreign  commerce,  and  also  securing 
the  safety  of  the  Suez  Canal.  We  undertook 
to  uphold  the  integrity  of  the  existing  Turco- 
Egyptian  treaties,  and  to  continue  to  regard 
Egyptians  as  Ottoman  subjects.  Ten  years 
later,  in  1892,  the  recently  deposed  Khedive 
came  to  the  throne,  and  the  arrangement  with 
the    Porte    was    restated.       In   the   decree   dated 


270     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

March  27  of  that  year,  it  was  laid  down  that 
Egyptian  territory  was  a  part  of  the  Turkish 
Empire,  and  that  Egyptians  were  subjects  of  the 
Sultan,  paying  annual  tribute  to  the  Porte ;  that 
the  Egyptian  army  was  at  the  disposal  of  the 
Sultan,  and  was  to  use  the  Turkish  flag  and 
the  Turkish  military  ranks,  all  appointments 
above  the  rank  of  colonel  being  made  by  the 
Sultan  himself  and  not  by  the  Khedive ;  that 
the  coinage  of  Egypt  was  to  be  issued  in  the 
Sultan's  name,  and  taxes  collected  in  his  name ; 
and  that  the  Khedive  was  not  empowered  to 
make  peace  or  war,  nor  any  political  treaties 
with  foreign  Powers.  This  decree  was  never 
revoked,  and  was,  until  the  recent  declaration  of 
the  Protectorate,  oflficially  acknowledged  by  us  as 
the  recognised  basis  of  our  position  in  Egypt. 

The  attitude  of  the  British  Government  has 
always  been,  until  recently,  perfectly  clear.  Lord 
Cromer  emphatically  stated  that  so  long  as  the 
Turco- Egyptian  Treaty,  which  it  was  thus  our 
avowed  object  to  uphold,  was  still  in  force,  "there 
could  be  no  such  thing  as  an  Egyptian  state  or  an 
Egyptian  nationality  separate  from  Turkey."  Our 
Army  of  Occupation  in  Egypt  was  maintained 
simply  and  solely  to  prevent  any  disorders  which 
might  impair  the  prosperity  of  the  country  and  in- 
jure native  or  European  interests.  The  Egyptian 
governmental  departments  remained  under  native 
Ministers,  holding  office  by  favour  of  the  Sultan, 


The  Protectorate  271 

to  each  of  whom  an  EnMish  "Adviser"  was 
assigned.  British  officials  in  Egypt  were  in  no 
way  connected  with  the  British  Government,  but 
were  simply  private  persons  in  the  service  of  the 
Khedive.  The  British  officers  in  the  Egyptian 
army  were  seconded  from  their  British  regiments, 
and  were  lent  to  the  Khedive  for  a  certain  number 
of  years.  The  British  interests  were  supervised, 
not  by  a  High  Commissioner  or  an  Ambassador, 
but  by  a  simple  Consul  -  General  (in  turn  Lord 
Cromer,  Sir  Eldon  Gorst,  and  Lord  Kitchener), 
whose  actual  rank  was  not  above  that  of  the 
Consuls  -  General  of  the  other  Powers.  Thus, 
except  for  the  presence  of  England's  strong 
guiding  hand  and  enforcement  of  internal  peace, 
the  relations  between  Egypt  and  Turkey  were  in 
no  way  affected,  and  the  country  still  remained 
the  dutiful  vassal  of  the  Porte.  It  was  definitely 
stated  by  Lord  Dufferin  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Occupation  that  our  object  was  to  establish  good 
government,  and  that  we  should  evacuate  the 
country  as  soon  as  a  more  or  less  permanent 
security  was  assured.  In  1910  Sir  Eldon  Gorst 
repeated  this  interpretation  of  our  position  in 
Egypt,  but  explained  that,  so  far  as  could  be 
seen,  the  day  of  our  departure  was  still  a  long 
way  off. 

Now,  since  we  upheld  the  Turco-Egyptian  agree- 
ment in  such  a  very  correct  manner,  the  Sultan 
had  little  objection  to  our  occupation  of  this  pro- 


272     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

vince  of  his.  We  maintained  order  and  kept  the 
peace  there  ;  we  upheld  the  Sultan's  authority  and 
that  of  his  Viceroy,  the  Khedive  ;  we  saw  that  the 
tribute  was  paid  with  punctilious  regularity ;  our 
presence  encouraged  the  investment  of  European 
capital  in  the  country  ;  and,  in  a  word,  we  saved 
the  Porte  a  great  deal  of  trouble  and  expenditure. 
On  our  part  we  had  the  advantage  of  having  a 
dominating  influence  in  a  country  strategically 
important  to  us ;  we  there  found  noble  employ- 
ment for  hundreds  of  our  young  men ;  and,  really 
above  all,  we  had  the  immense  pleasure  of  organ- 
ising, developing,  and  bringing  happiness  and 
prosperity  to  a  most  engaging  nation.  But  there 
was  one  point  in  the  agreement  with  Turkey 
which  was  a  source  of  anxiety — namely,  the  un- 
doubted Turkish  right  to  demand  Egyptian  military 
help  in  time  of  war.  In  1768  the  Sultan  had  asked 
his  Egyptian  vassal  for  troops  to  help  him  against 
Russia ;  during  the  Greek  War  of  Independence 
Egypt  had  been  obliged  to  furnish  an  army ;  and 
in  the  Crimean  War  the  Egyptians  had  fought  for 
the  Turks.  It  was  therefore  quite  apparent  that, 
since  we  were  pledged  to  maintain  the  existing 
treaties,  Egyptian  troops  would  have  to  be  sup- 
plied to  the  Sultan  should  he  demand  them  at 
any  time.  Fortunately,  however,  the  Porte  was 
persuaded  never  to  ask  for  them  in  her  recent 
wars ;  and  thus  England  was  saved  from  a  very 
awkward  situation.     But  it  must  be  remembered 


The  Protectorate  273 

that  this  hesitation  on  Turkey's  part  to  cause 
compUcations  with  us  by  insisting-  on  its  rights, 
did  not  in  any  way  invahdate  those  rights  nor 
abrogate  our  pledge  to  maintain  them.  During 
the  Turco  -  ItaUan  and  Turco  -  Balkan  wars  the 
Sultan's  decision  to  refrain  from  demanding  Egyp- 
tian help  enabled  Egypt  to  declare  its  neutrality 
— an  attitude  which,  it  seems,  was  not  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  letter  of  the  Turco-Egyptian  Treaty, 
though  it  was  to  the  spirit. 

When  war  was  declared  between  EnMand  and 

o 

Germany,  it  at  once  became  apparent  that  the 
Germans  in  Egypt  would  renew  with  vigour  their 
everlasting  efforts  to  upset  our  administration  in 
that  country.  Legally,  of  course,  no  action  against 
them  could  be  taken,  since  Egypt  was,  according 
to  our  oft-repeated  definition,  an  integral  part  of 
the  neutral  Turkish  Empire,  and  we  had  no  actual 
rights  there.  But  it  was  fully  realised  that  the 
Germans  intended  to  stir  up  the  natives  against 
us,  and  it  was  necessary  that  steps  should  be 
taken  to  prevent  them  from  involving  both  us 
and  the  innocent  Egyptians  in  this  further  far- 
rago of  bloodshed  and  misery.  The  British 
authorities,  therefore,  persuaded  the  Egyptian 
Government  to  regard  itself  as  in  a  state  of  war 
with  Germany  and  Austria,  and  the  people  of  those 
nationalities  were  either  turned  out  of  Egypt  or 
were  put  under  restraint,  while  their  shipping  was 
given  forty-eight  hours  to  leave  Egyptian  ports. 


274     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

Technically  this  was  as  audacious  an  act  of 
justifiable  illegality  as  any  ever  committed  by  a 
British  Government,  for  it  really  constituted  an 
enforced  act  of  rebellion  on  the  part  of  Egypt 
against  the  suzerainty  of  the  Sultan.  It  will  be 
remembered  that  the  Turco-Egyptian  Treaty,  the 
integrity  of  which  we  had  emphatically  stated  our 
intention  to  maintain,  clearly  said  that  Egypt, 
being  a  vassal  State,  was  not  allowed  to  declare 
war  on  anybody,  and  that  all  its  political  relations 
with  other  nations  were  to  be  conducted  through 
the  Turkish  sovereign.  The  British  Government 
had  laid  down  as  one  of  the  fundamental  axioms 
of  our  occupation  of  Egypt  that  "  the  rights  of 
the  sovereign  and  vassal  as  now  established  be- 
tween the  Sultan  and  the  Khedive  should  be 
maintained "  ;  and  Egypt's  inability  to  make  war 
or  peace  was  recognised  by  us  in  documentary 
form  as  late  as  1892.  Now,  however,  in  these 
days  of  excitement,  when  the  authorities  felt  that 
at  all  costs  bloodshed  in  Egypt  must  be  prevented, 
I  do  not  suppose  that  anybody  remembered  the 
clauses  of  the  Turco  -  Egyptian  Treaty  which  we 
were  pledged  to  respect.  The  British  Govern- 
ment did  not  deliberately  ignore  this  particular 
clause  :  it  literally  forgot  to  consult  the  archives. 
Had  this  been  done  and  the  irregularity  observed, 
the  position  could  have  been  regularised  with  ease 
by  means  of  a  frank  Egyptian  announcement  to 
the  Porte,  either  (1)  that  Egypt  was  in  a  state 


The  Protectorate  275 

of  open  rebellion  against  the  Sultan,  or  (2)  that 
it  was  not  in  revolt,  that  it  had  simply  broken 
this  one  clause  of  the  treaty  in  the  exceptional 
circumstances,  and  that  it  craved  the  Sultan's 
indulgence.  No  such  step  was  taken,  however ; 
and,  hand  in  hand  with  the  Egyptians,  the  British 
agents  went  boldly  on  their  way,  rounding  up  the 
Germans  in  this  portion  of  the  territory  of  Ger- 
many's friend,  Turkey. 

The  wisdom  of  these  precautions  was  soon  made 
apparent.  A  German  officer  named  Mors,  who  was 
employed  in  the  Alexandria  police,  was  proved  to 
have  incited  the  natives  against  us,  to  have  acted 
as  a  spy  in  German  interests,  and  to  have  planned 
to  blow  up  the  Suez  Canal.  He  was  publicly  de- 
graded and  sentenced  to  penal  servitude  for  life. 
Revelations  in  reg-ard  to  the  activities  of  a  German 
political  agent,  named  Dr  PrufFer,  also  now  came 
to  light ;  and  already  in  September  it  was  perfectly 
obvious  that  Germany  was  urging  Turkey  to  send 
an  expedition  to  Egypt  to  turn  the  British  troops 
out  of  the  country  and  to  reassert  the  sovereign 
rights  of  the  Porte.  Turkey  was,  somewhat  un- 
consciously, within  those  rights  in  showing  the 
intention  of  attempting  to  punish  Egypt  for  its 
insubordination ;  but  I  do  not  think  that  many 
persons  in  England  were  well  enough  versed  in 
Turco-Egyptian  history  to  realise  that  we,  first 
of  all,  had  given  the  Sultan  so  very  clear  a  tech- 
nical casus  belli  against  us.     One  thing,  however, 


276     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

was  quite  obvious :  Turkey  would  never  have 
troubled  to  assert  herself  unless  she  had  been 
urged  to  do  so  by  Germany.  The  Porte  had 
nothing  to  fear  from  England  in  Egypt.  The 
British,  as  has  been  said,  maintained  order,  upheld 
the  Sultan's  authority,  and  saw  that  the  tribute 
was  paid  regularly.  Moreover,  as  early  as  the 
first  week  in  August,  the  home  Government  had 
definitely  stated  that  if  Turkey  remained  neutral 
they  "  did  not  propose  to  alter  the  status  of 
Egypt,"  and  had  "  emphatically  contradicted  the 
report  that  the  annexation  of  Egypt  was  under 
consideration." 

The  Turks,  however,  were  soon  teased  by  the 
Germans  to  feelings  of  some  anger  at  our  actions 
on  the  Nile  ;  and  the  French  Ambassador  reported 
a  Turkish  Minister  as  saying  that  "  England  was 
treating  Egypt  as  if  it  belonged  to  her,  whereas 
it  formed  part  of  the  Ottoman  dominions,  and  that 
.  .  .  England  should  now  sign  a  convention  pro- 
viding for  the  evacuation  of  Egypt  by  British 
troops  at  the  end  of  the  war."  Meanwhile  the 
Turkish  newspapers  were  full  of  denunciations  of 
what  they  called  our  high-handed  proceedings  ; 
and  the  Mosul  and  Damascus  army  corps  of  the 
Turkish  army  were  hurriedly  massed  on  the  Egyp- 
tian frontier,  ostensibly  with  a  view  to  chastising 
the  insubordinate  province  if  further  acts  of  hos- 
tility to  its  overlord  were  committed.  Boads  were 
prepared  and  transport  collected  ;  mines  were  sent 


The  Protectorate  277 

to  the  Gulf  of  Akaba  to  protect  the  Turkish  forces 
there  from  naval  attack ;  many  German  officers 
were  hurried  into  Syria ;  and  the  Hedjaz  railway 
was  seized  for  military  purposes.  On  one  occasion 
some  Bedouin  levies  actually  crossed  the  frontier, 
the  ground  here  being  more  or  less  open  desert. 

The  anomaly  of  the  situation  rapidly  increased. 
Not  a  word  had  yet  been  uttered  by  England  to 
indicate  that  the  Sultan's  authority  in  Egypt  had 
ceased  to  be  recognised,  or  that  the  country  was 
no  longer  regarded  as  part  of  the  Turkish  Empire ; 
and  yet  circumstances  were  forcing  the  British 
authorities  to  act  as  though  they  did  not  admit 
these  very  points  which  England  was  in  Egypt 
to  emphasise.  When  the  Foreign  Office  asked 
the  Sultan  why  the  Turkish  troops  were  massed 
on  the  Egyptian  frontier,  he  replied  by  asking 
us  what  on  earth  many  thousands  of  our  troops 
were  doing  in  his  province  of  Egypt.  When, 
later.  Sir  Edward  Grey  insisted  on  knowing 
whether  the  Sultan  intended  to  invade  Egypt, 
he  replied  that,  "  as  Egypt  was  one  of  his  own 
provinces,  how  could  he  dream  of  invading  it  ? " 
These  queries  and  answers  were  at  first  exchanged 
in  the  most  sprightly  spirit,  and  the  Turkish  play 
upon  the  intricacies  of  the  situation  must  have 
caused  real  amusement  in  the  British  chanceries. 
England  felt  no  enmity  to  Turkey.  We  hoped 
sincerely  that  the  Porte  would  keep  out  of  the 
mess,    and    we    had    every    intention   of    holding 


278     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

Egypt  intact  on  the  Sultan's  behalf.  The  British 
mind,  obtuse  in  its  inherent  humanity,  cared  only 
for  the  welfare  of  the  Egyptians  and  the  confining 
of  the  sufferings  of  the  war  to  their  then  limits. 
But  as  time  passed  a  growing  sense  of  irritation 
was  felt  on  both  sides.  Egypt  was  found  to  be 
full  of  Turkish  and  German  spies,  and  on  more 
than  one  occasion  weak-minded  Egyptians  were 
persuaded  to  cause  local  disturbances.  One  night 
a  native  whose  emotions  had  thus  been  worked 
upon  aroused  his  neighbours  by  rushing  madly 
round  and  round  the  cemetery  of  his  district 
shouting  "  War !  war ! "  until  he  was  taken  in 
charge.  Two  men,  dressed  like  Turks,  and  pro- 
fessing to  be  Persians,  were  found  tampering  with 
a  railway  line  in  the  Delta,  but  when  interrogated 
they  gave  the  ominous  names  of  Goldstein  and 
Goldberger.  A  well-known  Turkish  senator  was 
discovered  to  be  in  Egypt,  engaged  in  inciting 
the  natives ;  and  shortly  afterwards  three  promi- 
nent Turkish  officers  were  arrested  while  similarly 
occupied. 

At  last,  three  months  after  the  outbreak  of 
hostilities  in  Europe,  war  was  declared  between 
England  and  Turkey  ;  and  thereby  the  political 
situation  in  Egypt  was  made  more  anomalous 
than  ever.  Legally,  war  between  England  and 
the  Porte  meant  that  we  were  also  at  war  with 
Egypt,  for  the  British  Government  had  not  yet 
advised  Egypt  to  declare  itself  in  revolt  against 


The  Protectorate  279 

the  Sultan.  The  British  officers  serving  in  the 
Egyptian  army  had  been  merely  lent  to  the  Khe- 
dive for  short  terms  of  years ;  and  it  had  always 
been  fully  recognised  that  they  were  thus  for  the 
time  being  in  the  service  of  the  Sultan,  since  the 
Egyptian  forces  were,  according  to  treaty,  a  part 
of  the  Turkish  army.  These  officers  were  now, 
therefore,  in  the  pay  of  our  enemy ;  and  similarly 
all  British  officials  in  the  Egyptian  Government 
were  under  certain  obligations  to  the  Sultan.  The 
native  Ministers  and  high  officials  found  them- 
selves in  a  still  more  delicate  and  awkward 
situation,  for  they  held  their  office  by  mandate 
of  the  Khedive  as  Vassal  of  Turkey,  and  they 
naturally  regarded  the  measures  which  they  were 
required  to  take  as  totally  inconsistent  with 
that  mandate.  Nobody,  however,  seems  to  have 
been  very  deeply  troubled  by  these  technical  irreg- 
ularities, and  no  Englishman  dreamed  of  resigning 
his  office.  All  the  precautionary  measures  exer- 
cised against  the  Germans  were  now  extended  to 
the  Turks ;  all  suspicious  Ottomans  were  arrested, 
and  Turkish  shipping  was  ordered  to  leave 
Egyptian  waters  immediately.  These  actions 
were  totally  illegal,  for  a  state  of  war  between 
Turkey  and  England  did  not  in  any  way  nullify 
the  terms  of  the  unrevoked  agreement  between 
Turkey  and  Egypt.  The  situation  could  have 
been  regularised  by  an  Egyptian  declaration  of 
independence  from   Turkey,  but  none  was  made. 


28o     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

Egyptians  were  still  officially  regarded  as  Turkish 
subjects,  and  in  London  and  Paris  they  were 
obliged  to  register  themselves  as  alien  enemies, 
and  were  prevented  from  returning  to  their  own 
country,  in  case  they  should  there  act  in  favour 
of  the  Turks.  At  the  same  time  those  of  military 
age  in  Egypt  were  prevented  from  going  abroad, 
in  case  they  should  be  required  to  serve  against 
the  Turks ! 

During  these  anxious  times  the  Khedive  re- 
mained in  Constantinople  as  a  willing  prisoner  of 
his  overlord.  He  was  on  his  annual  visit  to 
that  city  when  the  European  war  broke  out ; 
and,  realising  the  difficult  position  in  which  his 
country  might  find  itself,  he  chose  to  remain  at 
a  safe  distance  from  his  Ministers  and  advisers. 
Soon  after  war  was  declared  between  Turkey  and 
England,  however,  he  definitely  took  sides  with 
the  Sultan.  In  adopting  this  attitude  he  was 
acting  in  the  most  correct  manner  and  strictly 
in  accordance  with  the  Turco- Egyptian  Treaties 
which  England  supported ;  but  nevertheless  there 
is  no  doubt  that  he  was  inspired  by  nothing 
more  or  less  than  hostility  to  the  whole  British 
race.  He  had  always  disliked  us.  He  had  been 
educated  in  Vienna  and  had  there  learnt  to  sneer 
at  the  British  army ;  and  soon  after  his  accession 
he  passed  such  disparaging  comments  upon  our 
troops  that  Lord  Kitchener,  who  was  then  Sirdar, 
or    Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Egyptian  forces, 


THE    EX-KHEDIVE. 
Abbas   Pasha   Hilmi. 


The  Protectorate  281 

threatened  to  resign  unless  an  apology  was  forth- 
coming. A  story  is  related  which  tells  how  one 
night  at  the  opera  in  Cairo  Lord  Cromer  visited 
the  Khedive  in  his  box  and  requested  him  to 
make  the  necessary  apology  on  the  instant.  The 
Khedive  refused,  and  thereupon  Lord  Cromer 
invited  him  to  step  out  on  to  the  balcony  which 
overlooked  the  Place  de  I'Opera.  The  Khedive 
did  so,  and  Lord  Cromer  then  directed  his  atten- 
tion to  a  closed  brougham  which  stood  below, 
surrounded  by  a  small  detachment  of  British 
Hussars,  and  coldly  remarked  that  it  was  wait- 
ing to  drive  his  Highness  into  exile  should  he 
feel  unable  to  make  amends  to  the  Army.  Whether 
this  tale  be  true  or  not,  the  fact  remains  that  the 
apology  was  not  delayed.  Throughout  his  reign 
the  Khedive  has  intrigued  against  us,  and  though 
from  time  to  time  his  relations  with  the  British 
Agency  have  rightly  been  described  as  cordial, 
there  has  always  been  an  undercurrent  of  political 
enmity.  His  friendship  to  Sir  Eldon  Gorst  was 
quite  sincere,  and  English  people  were  much 
touched  by  his  incognito  visit  to  Sir  Eldon  when 
he  lay  dying  at  his  home  in  England.  He 
detested  the  bluff  Lord  Cromer,  however,  and 
thoroughly  disliked  Lord  Kitchener.  Thus,  doubt- 
less, he  welcomed  the  opportunity  of  being  able 
to  turn  against  England  without  placing  himself 
legally  in  the  wrong ;  and,  certainly,  had  he  simply 
protested  his  fidelity  to  the  Sultan  in  the  Turco- 


282     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

British  conflict,  we  could  have  had  no  case  against 
him ;  but  he  chose  to  display  his  friendship  for 
Germany  and  Austria  before  the  Sultan  became 
the  ally  of  those  countries,  and  thus  he  showed 
publicly  and  gratuitously  his  adherence  to  our 
enemies. 

Soon  after  war  was  declared  against  Turkey, 
Mr  Asquith,  in  his  Guildhall  speech,  spoke  of 
the  Turkish  violation  of  the  frontier,  mentioned 
above,  as  being  an  act  of  "lawless  intrusion"  on 
the  part  of  the  Porte ;  and  he  thus  made  confusion 
more  confounded,  for  he  issued  this  statement  as 
the  head  of  a  Government  which,  on  paper,  still 
definitely  recognised  Turkey's  suzerainty  over 
Egypt,  and  therefore  recognised  the  Sultan's  right 
to  take  such  steps  to  punish  the  insubordinate 
acts  which  Egypt  had  committed — for  example, 
in  treating  the  Germans  as  enemies  without  the 
consent  of  the  Porte.  Mr  Asquith  probably  had 
never  read  the  treaties,  and,  after  all,  they  were 
now  of  little  consequence,  since  Turkey  had  become 
the  ally  of  our  enemies ;  but  nevertheless  he  could 
well  have  afforded  to  give  the  Turks  their  due, 
and  to  have  described  their  incursion  across  the 
frontier  as  hostile  but,  under  the  circumstances, 
in  no  way  lawless.  England  went  to  war  with 
Turkey  because  the  Sultan's  Government  had  been 
intolerably  provocative  and  because  they  obviously 
intended  to  go  to  war  with  us.  That  was  reason 
enough.     For  more  than  thirty  years  the  British 


The  Protectorate  283 

have  honourably  held  Egypt  for  the  Porte,  and 
have  received  the  approbation  of  the  world  for 
the  punctilious  correctness  in  continuing  to  recog- 
nise the  Turkish  rights  there  ;  but  by  describing 
the  Sultan's  proposed  punitive  expedition  into  his 
own  Egyptian  province  as  "  lawless,"  Mr  Asquith 
threw  away  the  fruits  of  this  correctness,  for 
his  remarks  implied  that  the  British  Government 
had  been  unconscious  of  Turkish  suzerainty  over 
Egypt. 

The  fact  that  Turkey  heralded  her  entrance  into 
the  war  by  bombarding  certain  points  on  the 
Russian  Black  Sea  coast  led  at  first  to  the  general 
assumption  that  it  was  her  main  intention  to 
direct  her  attack  against  the  Czar's  forces.  This 
I  believe  to  be  incorrect.  Turkey's  main  object 
was  from  the  first  the  conquest  of  Egypt.  The 
opening  of  hostilities  in  the  Black  Sea  was  due 
to  the  inability  of  the  Porte  to  make  up  her 
mind  to  enter  the  conflict,  an  inability  which 
determined  the  Turkish  war  party  to  encourage 
the  German  oflScers  on  board  Turkish  battleships 
to  force  the  Sultan's  hand  by  committing  acts  of 
aggression  against  Pussia.  Ever  since  the  begin- 
ning of  the  war  the  Turkish  imagination  had  been 
filled  with  the  dream  of  regaining  her  lost  pres- 
tige ;  but  her  thoughts  were  not  turned  to  the 
west  or  north  :  they  were  directed  to  the  east  and 
south.  She  knew  well  enough  that  it  was  useless 
to   attempt   to    recover    her    lost    possessions   in 


284     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

Europe ;  and,  indeed,  her  German  tutors  carefully- 
guided  her  attention  away  from  the  west.  Her 
dream  was  to  restore  herself  to  a  position  of 
supremacy  in  the  Mohammedan  world ;  but,  had 
it  not  been  for  the  reckless  methods  of  her  war 
party  and  its  Teutonic  advisers,  she  would  not 
have  attempted  to  realise  her  desires  until  she 
was  assured  that  the  Allies,  and  especially 
England,  had  been  beaten.  Turkey,  in  fact,  fell 
a  victim  to  the  enchantment  of  Germany's 
"Calais"  war-cry.  The  wave  of  confident  enthu- 
siasm which  drove  the  German  hordes  towards 
England  at  the  end  of  October  inflamed  the  minds 
of  the  war  party,  and  gave  the  Prussian  officers 
their  opportunity.  Acts  of  hostility  were  com- 
mitted. Then  came  the  news  that  the  roads  to 
Calais  were  not  resounding  with  the  thunder  of 
the  Kaiser's  advancing  armies,  but  were  a  silent 
shambles  of  his  dead.  The  Grand  Vizier  attempted 
to  apologise  ;  but  it  was  too  late.  The  exasperated 
Russians  would  not  accept  the  half-hearted  and 
insincere  apology ;  and  England  was  willing 
enough  to  follow  their  lead  in  the  good  hope  of 
giving  the  coup-de-grdce  to  the  emaciated  Turkish 
question.  The  Porte  was  thus  committed  to  the 
undertaking  of  her  wild  projects,  which,  even  at 
the  outset,  she  must  already  have  known  to  be 
doomed  to  utter  failure. 

In  her  plan  of  campaign,  as  it  was  first  dreamed, 
her  first  object  was  to  capture   the  Suez  Canal, 


The  Protectorate  285 

thus  cutting  direct  communication  between 
England  and  India ;  her  second  object  was  to 
take  Cairo  and  Alexandria,  thus  establishing  a 
base  for  the  taking  over  of  the  Sudan,  linking 
up  ultimately  with  the  German  possessions  in 
East  Africa ;  her  third  was  to  assert  herself  in 
Arabia,  to  come  to  an  agreement  with  the  dis- 
affected tribes  of  the  Yemen,  and  to  strengthen 
her  prestige  in  the  holy  cities ;  and  her  final 
object  was  to  use  this  strategic  position  in  Egypt 
and  this  religious  prestige  to  stir  up  trouble  in 
Persia,  Afghanistan,  India,  Tripoli,  Algeria, 
Morocco,  and  other  Mohammedan  countries  in 
which  the  Allies  are  interested.  In  Europe  and 
in  Asia  Minor  her  efforts  were  intended  to  be 
purely  defensive,  her  object  being  to  hold  her 
home  territory  intact  while  her  expeditionary 
force  went  forth  on  its  great  adventure.  On  her 
western,  or  European,  frontiers  she  had  much 
reason  to  hope  that  Bulgaria  would  play  a  friendly 
part,  if  only  by  neutrality.  In  her  past  wars  with 
Russia,  the  frontiers  of  the  two  countries  met  in 
the  Balkans  ;  but  now  neither  nation  could  strike 
a  blow  at  the  other  on  this  side  of  the  Black 
Sea  without  the  participation  of  both  Bulgaria 
and  Boumania.  The  only  Turco-Russian  frontier 
lies  along  some  200  miles  of  mountainous  country 
between  Armenia  and  the  Caucasus  ;  and  here  the 
Porte  was  well  aware  that  offensive  hostilities  on 
her  part  could  have  little  effect  on  Russia,  and 


286     Egypt  during  the  British.  Occupation 

none  on  the  European  storm  centre.  Germany 
never  expected  Turkish  intervention  to  weaken 
the  Russian  battle  Hne,  which  was  so  great  a 
terror  to  her  eastern  provinces.  That  was  not 
the  Kaiser's  reason  for  seeking;  the  Sultan's  aid. 
His  immediate  object  was  to  weaken  the  British 
line  in  North  France  and  Belgium,  and  our  home 
defences,  by  occupying  the  attention  of  large 
bodies  of  our  troops  in  the  east ;  and  this  was 
the  original  enterprise  upon  which  Turkey  was 
made  to  set  out.  Its  complexion,  of  course,  came 
to  be  much  changed  by  the  strong  Russian  offen- 
sive in  Armenia,  and  later  by  the  attack  on  the 
Dardanelles ;  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
at  the  outset  the  Turks  and  Germans  had  their 
eyes  on  Egypt,  and  that  the  country  around  the 
Suez  Canal  was  intended  to  be  by  far  the  most 
important  field  of  operations.  Already  in  Septem- 
ber a  large  army  of  Turkish  troops,  supported 
by  Arab  and  Bedouin  contingents,  was  massed 
on  the  frontier  between  Syria  and  Egypt ;  but 
the  German  defeat  at  the  Marne  restrained  the 
Porte  from  giving  the  order  to  march  across 
the  desert  to  the  Suez  Canal.  This  delay  gave 
the  British  Government  time  to  concentrate  a 
very  large  army  in  Egypt ;  and  the  forces 
ready  for  the  defence  of  the  Canal  soon  became 
adequate.  Large  tracts  of  desert  near  Port  Said 
were  flooded,  and  outer  trenches  and  fortifications 
were  constructed   some  thirty  miles   to  the  east 


The  Protectorate  287 

of  the  Canal.  Battleships  were  held  in  readiness 
to  patrol  the  waterway  and  to  serve  as  floating 
batteries,  while  heavy  guns  were  mounted  at  all 
strategic  points.  As  a  result  of  these  great  pre- 
parations the  Turkish  hopes  of  a  successful 
invasion  rapidly  diminished,  and  this  southern 
campaign,  which  was  at  first  expected  to  be  the 
main  Ottoman  enterprise,  came  to  have  only  a 
secondary  importance. 

The  Turks,  of  course,  relied  to  a  great  extent 
on  the  loyalty  of  Egypt  to  its  overlord.  They 
thought  that  the  Egyptians  would  be  as  ready  to 
strike  a  blow  at  the  British  Occupation  as  was 
the  Khedive  ;  and  they  believed  that  all  Mussul- 
mans— that  is  to  say,  some  five-sixths  of  the  popu- 
lation of  Egypt — would  respond  to  the  call  of  the 
Sultan  in  his  capacity  as  Caliph  of  Islam.  The 
temper  of  the  Egyptian  people  was,  indeed,  a  little 
uncertain  at  first,  for  the  Turks  had  always  been  re- 
spected by  them  as  the  chief  Mohammedan  Power. 

Moreover,  the  acute  financial  depression  in 
Egypt  at  this  time  was  causing  a  certain  amount 
of  distress  and  consequent  unrest.  Owing  to 
the  ravages  of  the  boll-worm  the  cotton  crop  had 
been  bad,  and  now,  since  the  outbreak  of  the  war, 
the  market  was  very  limited.  (The  total  export 
of  cotton  in  the  year  1913  was  over  £26,000,000, 
of  which  43  per  cent  went  to  the  United  Kingdom, 
20  per  cent  to  countries  neutral  in  the  present 
war,  and  the   remaining    37  per   cent   mostly    to 


288     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

Germany  and  Austria.)  There  was  also  a  great 
faUing  off  in  general  trade,  which  was  seriously 
felt  in  Alexandria  and  Cairo,  The  imports  for 
October  1914,  the  month  preceding  the  declara- 
tion of  war  with  Turkey,  were  £2,000,000  less 
than  in  October  1913,  and  the  exports  £3,500,000 
less.  The  British  Government,  however,  very 
wisely  lent  the  Egyptian  Government  £5,000,000 
with  which  to  purchase  the  unsold  cotton  from 
small  growers  ;  and  thus  the  distress  and  irritation 
of  the  peasants  were  eased,  and  consequently  they 
were  in  no  mood  to  engage  in  a  revolution. 

The  air  was  further  clarified  by  a  proclamation 
issued  by  Sir  John  Maxwell,  the  Commander-in- 
Chief  of  the  British  forces  in  Egypt,  in  which  he 
stated  that  the  British  Government  would  not 
call  upon  the  Egyptians  to  fight  against  the 
Turks,  or  to  bear  the  expenses  of  the  campaign, 
but  that  England  would  shoulder  the  entire 
burden,  and  would  fight  without  the  assistance  of 
the  Egyptian  army,  "  to  protect  the  rights  and 
liberties  of  Egypt,  which  were  originally  won  by 
Mohammed  Ali." 

The  declaration  was  probably  induced  by  a 
combination  of  circumstances.  It  was  doubtless 
felt  that  the  Egyptian  troops  would  not  fight  with 
any  enthusiasm  against  fellow  Mohammedans,  and 
therefore  might  as  well  stand  out.  Then  the  dis- 
connection of  the  Egyptian  army  with  the  war, 
and  the  absence  of  additional  taxes,  would  tend  to 


The  Protectorate  289 

create  a  certain  supineness  in  the  nation,  and 
would  lessen  the  danger  of  those  sporadic  out- 
bursts of  excitement  which,  in  a  neurotic  country 
like  Egypt,  are  so  liable  to  develop  into  serious 
disturbances.  And  certainly  the  forces  at  our  dis- 
posal must  have  been  thought  to  be  quite  sufficient 
to  check  the  Turkish  invasion,  without  the  assist- 
ance of  the  18,000  Egyptians. 

The  proclamation,  of  course,  had  much  the 
same  sense  as  the  establishment  of  a  British  Pro- 
tectorate, for  it  meant  that  England  would  literally 
2:)rotect  this  portion  of  the  Turkish  Empire  against 
the  big  stick  of  its  overlord.  But  technically  it 
was  astonishingly  irregular,  since  no  declaration 
had  yet  been  made  that  Egypt  had  ceased  to  be 
the  Sultan's  vassal  province,  and  England's  reason 
for  being  in  Egypt  at  all  was  still  the  original 
"  maintenance  of  the  treaties  established  between 
the  Sultan  and  the  Khedive."  With  their  usual 
absent-mindedness,  the  British  authorities  forgot 
that  "the  rights  and  liberties  won  by  Mohammed 
Ali,"  referred  to  in  General  Maxwell's  proclama- 
tion, were  granted  in  1840  at  England's  special 
request,  on  the  explicit  understanding  that 
Egyptians  should  be  regarded  as  Ottoman  sub- 
jects, that  Egyptian  troops  should  be  at  the 
disposal  of  the  Sultan,  and  that  the  Egyptian 
Government  should  make  neither  peace  nor  war 
with  any  nation  without  Turkish  consent.  Thus, 
like  characters  in  '  Alice  in  Wonderland,'  we  now 

T 


290     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

stated  that  we  were  making  war  on  the  Turkish 
Empire  on  behalf  of  Egypt,  which  we  admitted 
was  part  of  the  Turkish  Empire ;  and  we  further 
declared  that  we  were  fighting  in  defence  of  a 
treaty  which  we  broke  in  fighting  in  defence  of  it. 
In  supporting  Mohammed  Ali's  treaty  rights  we 
were  upholding  the  position  of  Egypt  as  vassal  of 
the  Sultan,  and,  mad  though  it  sounds,  we  were 
presumably  fighting  to  uphold  the  Sultan's  right 
to  fight  us  for  allowing  the  Egyptians  to  allow  us 
to  fight  the  Sultan  on  the  Sultan's  own  territory ! 
Moreover,  although  we  already  knew  that  the 
Khedive  had  sided  against  England,  we  still 
recognised  that  the  Sultan  was  his  overlord,  and 
we  therefore  technically  supported  his  action  in 
attacking  us. 

A  pretty  muddle  indeed  !  The  British  Govern- 
ment could  have  set  matters  right  with  ease  had 
it  now  issued  a  declaration  of  some  kind  to  show 
that  it  regarded  Turkish  suzerainty  as  at  an  end  ; 
but  no  such  statement  was  issued.  Yet  there  was 
nothing  to  hide,  or  of  which  to  be  ashamed.  Eng- 
land's work  in  Egypt  since  1882  formed  one  of  the 
most  noble  pages  of  our  history.  A  band  of 
Englishmen  had  toiled  there  for  over  thirty  years, 
not  consciously  for  national  gain  and  not  at  all  for 
personal  profit ;  and  a  nation  which  we  found 
starving  and  oppressed  had  been  transformed  into 
one  of  the  most  prosperous  and  contented  peoples 
in  the  whole  world.     Moreover,   for  thirty  years 


The  Protectorate  291 

we  had  honourably  held  Egypt  for  the  Turks ;  and 
even  when  Austria  seized  the  two  Balkan  pro- 
vinces from  Turkey  and  Italy  laid  hands  on  Tripoli, 
we  not  only  refrained  from  annexing  Egypt,  but 
actually  restated  our  expectation  to  evacuate  the 
country  ultimately.  Our  action  in  taking  steps 
against  Germans  in  Egypt  was  justified  by  the 
fact  that  it  prevented  bloodshed  ;  for  the  agents 
of  Germany  were  determined  to  stir  up  the  natives 
against  us.  Why,  then,  did  we  give  the  im- 
pression that  we  were  attempting  to  blind  our- 
selves to  the  hard  facts  of  the  case  ?  What  ill 
counsel  prompted  us  to  deny  the  Turkish  rights 
which  for  thirty  years  it  had  been  our  pride  to 
uphold,  and  thus  to  endanger  the  respect  which 
our  punctiliousness  in  Egypt  had  earned  for  us  ? 
It  was  sheer  carelessness.  We  knew  that  we  were 
in  the  right,  that  every  dictate  of  God  and  man 
demanded  that  we  should  not  let  the  Egyptians 
fall  back  into  that  utter  misery  from  which  Eng- 
land, and  England  alone,  had  rescued  them.  And 
in  the  single  resolve  to  save  twelve  million  human 
beings  from  the  ruthlessness  of  Turkish  domina- 
tion, the  Government  did  not  bother  to  think 
about  technicalities.  That  is  the  only  explana- 
tion. The  hostile  critic  will  doubtless  remark 
that  England,  then,  is  shown  to  have  as  little  re- 
gard for  the  sanctity  of  treaties  as  has  Germany ; 
and  in  reply  one  can  only  say  in  all  sincerity  that 
whereas   Germany   disregarded    a    treaty    for  the 


292     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

sake  of  self-aggrandisement,  England  did  so,  not 
for  British  gain,  but  for  another  nation's  happi- 
ness— not  as  an  aggressor,  but  as  a  protector. 

The  reward  of  our  labours  in  Egypt  was  soon 
abundantly  offered  by  the  Egyptians  and  Sudanese. 
Prince  Hussein  Kamel  (now  Sultan  of  Egypt) 
clearly  showed  his  devotion  to  the  British  cause. 
Prince  Said  Halim,  the  Khedive's  cousin,  stated 
in  the  English  press  that  "every  true  Egyptian 
will  remain  loyal  to  the  great  Mother  Country  who 
civilised  and  enriched  the  Egyptians."  The 
Khedive's  poet-laureate  published  a  set  of  Arabic 
verses,  from  which  the  following  lines  deserve  to 
be  quoted  : — 

''What  is  Thy  judgment,  O  Lord,  what  is  Thy 
opinion  of  the  Kaiser's  tremendously  expansive 
dream  ? 

"  The  Emperor  of  Germany  has  delivered  a 
speech,  decreeing  that  in  the  Great  Kingdom  he 
will  appropriate  the  larger  part  himself,  and  will 
leave  the  smaller  part  to  Thee. 

"  Which  sword,  O  Lord,  is  sharper — Thine  or 
his? 

"  Should  his  dream  be  realised,  the  calamity  to 
Islam  would  indeed  be  great. 

"  O  God,  forget  not  Thy  flock  because  it  appears 
to  be  the  humbler  side. 

"  We  are  the  victims  of  a  reckless  band  of  men  " 
{i.e.,  the  Turkish  war  party). 

Another  well-known  Arabic  poet  dedicated  an 


The  Protectorate  293 

ode  to  "  Tommy  Atkins,"  and  bade  him  to  crush 
German  miHtarism  which  had  ruined  Turkey,  and 
to  "  return  the  Prussian's  arrow  into  his  own 
neck." 

The  Egyptian  newspapers  unanimously  de- 
nounced the  Turkish  action,  and  '  El  Moayad,'  the 
leading  organ,  published  an  article  showing  that 
the  Arab  world  had  always  been  badly  treated  by 
the  Porte.  The  Grand  Sheikh  of  the  Senoussi 
proclaimed  his  friendliness  to  Egypt  and  to  the 
British.  The  chief  ulemas  of  El  Azhar  University 
in  Cairo  issued  instructions  to  the  people,  in  the 
name  of  the  Prophet,  to  keep  the  peace.  The 
ulemas  and  sheikhs  of  the  Sudan  declared  that 
they  were  "  with  the  British  Government  heart 
and  soul,  having  no  bond  with  Turkey."  A  distin- 
guished Arabic  writer,  formerly  editor  of  an  Alexan- 
drian newspaper,  published  an  appeal  to  Ottomans 
to  realise  that  England  has  always  been  Turkey's 
good  friend.  Hundreds  of  letters  were  received 
by  the  Government  and  the  British  Agency  pro- 
testing the  writers'  devotion,  and  large  numbers  of 
natives  sent  subscriptions  to  the  Prince  of  Wales' 
Fund.  But  perhaps  the  attitude  of  the  Egyptians 
in  general  towards  the  English  was  rather  one  of 
kindly  toleration  than  of  warm  friendship,  while 
their  relationship  to  the  Turks  had  more  in  it  of 
indifference  than  of  liking  or  dislike.  "  Auzinhum 
taiyih  min  bayid,"  said  the  peasants  in  regard  to 
the  Ottomans  :  "  We  wish  them  well — from  afar." 


294     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

It  will  be  as  well  to  review  here  some  of  the 
factors  which  influenced  Egyptian  opinion  in 
regard  to  Turkey.  In  the  first  place,  let  it  be 
clearly  understood  that  the  articulate  portion  of 
the  nation  has  no  great  liking  for  the  English. 
The  fellaJiin,  or  peasants,  are  not  particularly 
grateful  for  all  that  we  have  done  for  them,  but 
to  some  extent  they  realise  the  value  of  the  law 
and  order  which  we  have  established ;  and,  on  the 
whole,  it  may  be  said  that  the  rural  population  is 
well  satisfied.  The  effendi,  or  educated  classes, 
however,  think  that  they  have  been  somewhat  sat 
upon.  They  have  always  clamoured  for  self- 
government,  which  has  not  yet  been  given  to 
them  ;  and  a  large  number  of  young  Egyptians 
of  the  upper  and  middle  classes  regard  the  British 
official  as  a  cold,  stern,  unsympathetic  school- 
master. Perhaps  one  in  every  ten  British  officials 
is  popular  with  the  natives ;  the  others  are  re- 
spected, and  sometimes  mildly  liked,  but  not 
loved.  The  Egyptians,  generally  speaking,  neither 
understand  nor  appreciate  incorruptibility,  high- 
mindedness,  and  activity ;  and  what  we  call 
sterling  qualities  are  detested  by  them.  A  large 
number  of  Egyptians  loathed  Lord  Cromer,  who  is 
one  of  the  most  high-principled,  the  most  just,  and 
the  most  honourable  men  England  has  ever  bred. 
On  the  other  hand,  they  loved  Lord  Kitchener, 
whose  real  high-mindedness  they  had  little  op- 
portunity of  observing,  owing  to  the  shortness  of 


The  Protectorate  295 

his  tenure  of  office  as  Consul-General,  but  whose 
shrewdness  and  supposed  unscrupulousness  were 
commonly  discussed.  Lord  Kitchener's  influence 
with  the  natives  was  enormous  ;  they  feared  him, 
thought  they  understood  him,  and  loved  him  ;  and 
the  fact  of  his  supreme  command  in  his  own 
country  had  a  very  quieting  effect  upon  them. 
In  spite  of  the  goodwill  of  the  Press  and  of 
certain  individuals,  as  recorded  above,  one  may 
say  that  on  the  whole  the  Egyptians  did  not  much 
care  whether  we  remained  in  Egypt  or  not.  On 
the  other  hand,  all  better-class  Egyptians  regarded 
France  as  the  pattern  of  what  a  nation  should  be. 
They  nearly  all  speak  French,  dress  as  much  as 
possible  in  the  French  style,  and  emulate  the 
manners  of  Paris,  If  the  war  had  been  simply  a 
Franco-German  contest  the  Egyptians  would  have 
been  enthusiastically  on  the  side  of  the  French  ; 
but  as  far  as  they  are  concerned  the  fight  was 
mainly  Turco-British.  Speaking  generally,  it  may 
be  said  that  the  fact  that  France  and  England 
were  allies  had  an  appreciable  effect  on  native 
opinion  in  the  direction  we  desired. 

As  regards  Egypt's  relations  with  Turkey,  the 
question  had  two  distinct  aspects — civil  and  re- 
ligious. As  to  the  former,  history  shows  that  the 
Egyptians  were  never  notably  loyal  to  their 
Ottoman  overlords,  and  were  always  ready  enough 
to  come  to  blows  with  them.  The  new  situation 
was  somewhat  akin  to  that  of  1769,  when  Ali  Bey, 


296     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

of  Egypt,  was  ordered  by  the  Sultan  to  join  in  the 
war  against  Kussia.  This  led  to  his  revolt  against 
Turkey  and  his  conquest  of  Syria.  He  then  pro- 
claimed himself  Sultan  of  Egypt,  and  lent  his  aid 
to  the  Russians.  The  incidents  recorded  in  this 
volume  suffice  to  show  that  there  has  been  much 
old  enmity  between  the  Sultan  and  his  Egyptian 
vassal ;  and,  if  the  matter  were  purely  political,  the 
Egyptians  would  have  had  no  objection  to  a  fight 
with  Turkey. 

As  regards  the  religious  aspect  of  the  question, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Egyptians  regard 
the  Sultan  with  much  reverence  as  the  head  of 
their  faith.  He  is  the  Caliph  of  Islam,  and  is 
therefore  to  them  what  an  Italian  Pope  is,  let  us 
say,  to  a  French  Catholic.  But,  at  the  same  time, 
this  reverence  for  the  Sultan  as  Caliph  does  not 
seem  to  be  so  potent  a  factor  in  Egypt's  attitude 
as  is  the  respect  entertained  for  him  as  the  head 
of  the  leading  Mohammedan  nation.  Turkey  is, 
to  the  Egyptians,  the  hope  of  Islam  ;  and  they  felt 
that  a  demonstration  of  the  Sultan's  power  was  a 
matter  of  good  cheer  to  all  Mussulmans.  Egyptians 
have  for  some  years  entertained  the  hope  that 
Turkey,  as  a  Mohammedan  nation,  would  increase 
its  influence  in  Europe,  and  would  thereby  prove 
to  the  world  that  Mohammedans  were  as  capable 
as  Christians.  They  looked  always  to  Turkey  as 
the  representative  of  Islam,  and  any  Turkish 
success  against  Christians  was  hailed  with  genuine 


The  Protectorate  297 

delight,  not  for  fanatical  reasons,  but  simply  as  a 
vindication  of  their  own  creed.  The  Egyptians 
have  suffered  a  great  many  slights  at  the  hands 
of  the  very  arrogant  lower  -  class  Greeks  and 
Italians  who  reside  in  their  countr}^  and  who 
have  been  protected  by  the  Capitulations ;  and 
they  have  consoled  themselves  with  the  hope  that 
one  day  these  objectionable  Christians  would  be 
well  punished  by  the  Mohammedan  champion, 
Turkey.  Since  the  Balkan  war,  however,  this 
hope  was  much  diminished,  though  it  has  not  yet 
been  wholly  dispelled ;  and  now  the  Sultan's 
entrance  into  the  fray  at  the  earnest  appeal  of  the 
Christian  nation  of  Germans,  was  regarded  as  a 
fine  tribute  to  Mohammedan  worth.  The  Egyptians 
have  forgotten  in  what  manner  the  Sultans  of 
Turkey  became  Caliphs  and  obtained  the  right  to 
speak  in  the  name  of  Islam ;  but  it  will  be  as  well 
if  the  facts  are  recalled. 

The  Caliph  is  the  representative  of  the  Prophet 
and  the  temporal  sovereign  of  all  Mohammedans. 
Originally  the  office  was  not  hereditary,  but  each 
Caliph  nominated  his  successor.  The  descendants 
of  Abbas,  the  uncle  of  the  Prophet,  reigned  as 
Caliphs  over  large  possessions,  of  which  Egypt 
was  a  part,  from  a.d.  750  to  868,  and  again  from 
905  to  969.  In  1258  a  descendant  of  this  line 
was  established  as  Caliph  upon  the  throne  of 
Egypt,  and  his  successors  nominally  held  office 
after   him    until   the   Turkish   conquest    of   1517. 


PrC' 


298     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

The  victorious  Sultan  Selim  I.  then  stated  that 
Mutawakkil,  the  last  of  these  Abbaside  Caliphs, 
had  handed  the  office  over  to  him ;  and  though 
it  is  now  impossible  to  ascertain  whether  this  was 
a  fabrication  or  not,  it  may  certainly  be  said  that, 
if  the  Caliphate  was  really  handed  over,  the  trans- 
action was  made  under  compulsion.  Selim  was 
not  a  descendant  of  the  Prophet,  and  he  had  no 
claim  to  the  office.  Yet  he  stripped  Egypt  of  its 
religious  dominion ;  seized  the  Prophet's  banner 
and  other  sacred  relics  which  were  preserved  in 
Cairo,  and  took  them  to  Constantinople ;  and  sent 
the  fallen  Egyptian  Caliph  to  die  in  exile.  To 
this  day  the  Shiites  do  not  admit  the  Sultan's 
right  to  the  Caliphate,  and  many  of  the  Sunnites 
regard  the  Sherlf  of  Mecca,  who  is  a  descendant 
of  the  Prophet,  as  the  true  head  of  the  Faith. 
The  Egyptians,  however,  trained  by  many  years 
of  tribulation  to  a  ready  subserviency,  acknowledge 
the  Sultan's  claim  to  the  sacred  office ;  and,  unless 
their  religious  leaders  are  wise  enough  at  this 
juncture  to  raise  the  question  of  his  right  to  speak 
as  Caliph,  the  contemplated  fall  of  Turkey  will 
appear  to  the  native  mind  more  in  the  aspect  of 
a  menace  to  Islam  in  general  than  in  that  of  a 
benefit  to  Egypt  in  particular. 

Nevertheless  there  are  a  few  Egyptians  who 
have  considered  this  question,  and  have  asked 
themselves  whether  it  would  be  possible  to  restore 
the  Caliphate  to  Cairo  in  the  person  of  the  new 


The  Protectorate  299 

Sultan  of  Egypt ;  or,  failing  that,  to  acknowledge 
the  rights  of  the  Sherif  of  Mecca,  and  to  bolster 
up  the  Egyptian  sovereign  into  a  kind  of  Defender 
of  the  Faith.  Egypt  being  so  close  to  the  holy 
cities  of  Islam,  he  certainly  ought  to  be  their 
natural  protector,  whether  as  Caliph  or  not ;  and 
it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  subject  will  now  be 
openly  discussed  in  Cairo,  in  order  that  the 
Egyptians  may  realise  that  the  fall  of  Turkey 
does  not  mean  a  blow  to  Islam,  but  rather  an 
adjustment  which  will  infuse  new  life  and  new 
hope  into  the  Mohammedan  religion. 

The  anomalous  and  utterly  irregular  situation 
in  Egypt  was  at  last  brought  to  an  end  on  Dec- 
ember 18,  1914,  by  a  proclamation  which  stated 
that  "the  suzerainty  of  Turkey  over  Egypt  is 
terminated,"  and  that  "  Egypt  is  placed  under  the 
Protection  of  His  Majesty,  and  will  henceforth 
constitute  a  British  Protectorate."  On  the  next 
day  another  proclamation  was  issued,  stating  that 
"  in  view  of  the  action  of  His  Highness  Abbas 
Hilmi  Pasha,  lately  Khedive  of  Egypt,  who  has 
adhered  to  the  King's  enemies.  His  Majesty's 
Government  have  seen  fit  to  depose  him  from  the 
Khedivate,  and  that  high  dignity  has  been  offered, 
with  the  title  of  Sultan  of  Egypt,  to  His  Highness 
Prince  Hussein  Kamel  Pasha,  eldest  living  prince 
of  the  family  of  Mohammed  Ali,  and  has  been 
accepted  by  him." 

A  very  general  tribute  was  paid  both  by  natives 


300     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

and  Europeans  to  the  unselfish  restraint  of  England 
in  refraining  from  taking  forcible  possession  of  Egypt 
at  this  time,  when  such  a  movement  could  have 
been  backed  by  an  irresistible  army.  In  refraining 
from  annexing  Egypt  and  in  declaring  a  simple 
Protectorate,  England  has  given  the  best  answer 
to  those  who  would  criticise  our  recent  irregular 
actions  on  the  Nile ;  for  it  is  thus  clearly  shown, 
beyond  all  dispute,  that  the  British  Government 
has  been  actuated  throughout  by  the  most  dis- 
interested desire  for  the  welfare  of  the  Egyptian 
nation,  without  regard  to  the  aggrandisement  of 
our  own  Empire.  England  still  adheres  to  the 
original  policy  of  training  the  Egyptians  to  govern 
themselves,  and  the  fact  that  no  advantage  what- 
soever has  been  taken  of  the  helplessness  of  Egypt 
has  given  the  greatest  satisfaction  to  the  natives, 
and  has  raised  British  prestige  to  a  height  never 
before  attained. 

The  attitude  of  the  British  troops  to  the  populace 
is  exemplary.  In  one  of  his  first  speeches  the  new 
Sultan  stated  that  the  behaviour  of  officers  and  men 
since  the  beginning  of  the  Occupation  had  been 
"  perfect."  "  There  has  been,"  he  said,  "no  swagger- 
ing and  no  sabre-rattling  in  their  relations  with  the 
inhabitants  of  this  country."  As  an  example  of  this 
spirit,  which  is  so  happily  in  contrast  with  German 
militarism,  I  may  relate  an  incident  which  occurred 
at  a  grand  march-past  in  connection  with  the  new 
Sultan's  accession.     As  the  procession  was  passing 


The  Protectorate  301 

the  saluting  point,  a  native  funeral  came  into  sight 
along  a  side-street,  and  was,  of  course,  stopped  by 
the  police.  Seeing  this,  Sir  John  Maxwell,  who 
was  taking  the  salute,  instantly  intervened.  He 
ordered  the  band  of  the  Rifles,  which  was  just 
passing,  to  cease  playing,  and  he  directed  the 
troops  to  halt.  He  then  moved  aside,  and  allowed 
the  simple  native  cortege  to  proceed  through  the 
British  lines.  The  incident,  though  trifling  in  itself, 
caused  a  deep  impression,  and  demonstrated  in  a 
noteworthy  manner  the  policy  of  the  protecting 
Power. 

The  Egyptians  received  the  announcement  of 
the  Protectorate  without  emotion.  They  showed 
no  frothy  enthusiasm  which  might  afterwards  have 
given  way  to  a  revulsion  of  feeling  in  our  dis- 
favour ;  but  their  relief  and  general  approval  was 
manifest.  The  deposition  of  the  Khedive  was,  on 
the  whole,  popular.  One  cannot  help  a  feeling  of 
sorrow  in  recalling  to  mind  the  short,  rotund, 
double  -  chinned  figure,  who  for  so  many  years 
waddled  through  the  halls  of  Abdin  Palace,  with 
amiable  expression  and  shifty  eye ;  for  in  many 
ways  he  was  a  kindly  and  pleasant  personage, 
having  something  of  the  inherent  charm  of  his 
great  house.  Had  he  played  the  game  in  his 
dealings  with  England,  he  would  now  be  Sultan 
of  Egypt,  and  in  the  future  he  might  possibly 
have  become  Caliph  of  Islam,  an  office  which  for 
many  centuries  was  vested  in  Egypt,  and  which, 


302     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

as  we  have  seen,  was  seized  by  the  Turkish 
sovereign  in  1517.  Now,  owing  to  his  personal 
dishke  of  Enghshmen,  and  to  his  erroneous  behef 
that  the  German  cause  would  triumph,  he  has 
been  led  to  turn  against  us,  and  therefore  has 
been  sent  to  join  the  sad  little  company  of  exiled 
rulers  whose  lives  must  necessarily  be  shadowed 
by  vain  ambitions  and  bitter  remorse. 

The  new  sovereign  is  a  man  of  very  different 
stamp.  He  possesses  a  manner  of  perfect  royalty, 
is  as  honest  as  the  day,  and  is  admirable  from 
every  point  of  view.  He  has  been  called  the 
"Father  of  thQ  fellah'' — the  Egyptian  peasant; 
and  his  dealings  both  with  the  working  men  and 
with  the  upper  classes  have  been  always  marked 
by  kindliness,  justice,  and  sound  sense.  In  an 
interview  granted  to  a  press  representative  shortly 
after  his  accession,  he  expressed  sentiments  which 
none  but  a  high-minded  statesman  could  have 
uttered.  "  If  I  can  succeed,"  he  said,  "  in  inspir- 
ing the  people  of  Egypt  with  some  of  that  civic 
spirit  which  the  young  nations  of  the  British 
Empire  have  displayed,  I  shall  be  content.  To 
reach  that  goal  education  is  required — not  mere 
book-learning,  but  social  and  moral  training  which 
men  learn  first  from  their  mothers.  Female  edu- 
cation is  what  the  country  greatly  needs,  and  if  I 
am  in  some  things  a  Conservative,  I  am  a  Liberal 
in  this.  I  believe  there  is  a  great  future  for  my 
country.     Once  the  disturbance  caused  by  the  war 


The  Protectorate  303 

has  ceased,  Egypt  will  be  a  centre  of  intensive 
cultivation,  moral  as  well  as  material.  Kemember 
we  have  three  great  assets — the  Nile,  the  Egyptian 
sun,  and,  above  all,  the  fellahin  who  till  the  fruit- 
ful soil  of  Egypt.  I  know  them  well  and  love 
them.  You  will  not  find  a  race  of  men  more 
accessible  to  progress,  better  tempered,  or  harder 
working.  ...  I  trust  entirely  in  England,  and 
hope  she  trusts  me.  I  have  always  worked  for 
a  good  understanding  between  England  and 
Egypt." 

His  Highness  has  been  most  ably  supported 
throughout  these  trying  times  by  the  ex-Regent 
and  present  Prime  Minister  of  Egypt,  Hussein 
Pushdy  Pasha,  to  whom  British  thanks  are  due. 
He  is  an  honest,  bluff,  and  very  intelligent  man, 
of  somewhat  Bohemian  habits.  He  has  helped  to 
steer  his  country  round  one  of  the  most  awkward 
corners  in  its  career,  and  he  merits  the  greatest 
credit  for  his  tactful  interpretation  of  a  most 
difficult  role. 

Amongst  Englishmen,  mention  should  be  made 
of  the  good  work  accomplished  by  Sir  Milne 
Cheetham,  the  British  Charge  d'Affaires,  whose 
tactful  handling  of  the  situation  has  been  much 
admired.  Sir  Ronald  Graham,  the  Adviser  to  the 
Ministry  of  the  Interior,  showed  most  conspicuous 
good  sense  and  cool  judgment,  and  the  internal 
quietude  of  the  country  during  these  most  anxious 
days  was  largely  due  to  his  influence.      At  the 


304     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

British  Agency  Mr  Konald  Storrs  acted  with 
great  circumspection,  and  may  be  said  to  have 
contributed  in  no  small  measure  to  the  successful 
solution  of  Egypt's  difficulties.  Sir  Murdoch 
Macdonald,  of  the  Ministry  of  Public  Works, 
Lord  Edward  Cecil,  the  Financial  Adviser,  and 
Sir  George  Macauley,  the  Director  of  the  State 
Railways,  will  also  be  long  remembered  for  their 
able  work  under  very  trying  circumstances. 

The  future  of  Egypt  is  still  somewhat  uncer- 
tain ;  for,  although  the  corner  has  been  turned, 
the  road  is  still  difficult  and  full  of  pitfalls.  The 
new  form  of  government  does  not  bring  with  it 
many  changes  in  the  actual  methods  of  adminis- 
tration. The  main  difference  will  be  noticed  in 
the  abolition  of  the  Capitulations,  which  have 
always  been  such  a  thorn  in  the  flesh  of  the 
Government.  These  Capitulations  have  given 
foreigners  in  Egypt  certain  privileges  which  have 
been  very  greatly  abused.  A  foreign  subject,  let 
us, say,  committed  a  crime  against  an  Egyptian; 
but,  by  the  capitulatory  rights,  he  could  not  be 
tried  by  an  Egyptian  court,  although  an  English 
judge  was  seated  upon  the  bench.  He  had  to  be 
taken  in  custody  by  his  Consulate,  and  tried  in 
the  Mixed  Courts,  or  deported  to  his  own  country 
for  trial.  Again,  when  a  reform  was  to  be  insti- 
tuted in  Egyptian  administration  which  had  some 
vague  bearing  upon  foreign  interests,  the  consent 
of  innumerable  foreign  Governments    had   to    be 


The  Protectorate  305 

obtained,  a  process  often  occupying  many  years. 
The  estabhshment  of  one  law  both  for  Egyptians 
and  for  foreigners  Avill  remove  a  drag  upon  the 
Government  which  has  been  most  seriously  felt 
in  recent  years,  and  which  has  very  rightly  been 
resented  by  the  natives  and  their  British  col- 
leagues. As  regards  the  tribute  of  £682,000  paid 
annually  to  Turkey,  no  final  arrangements  have 
yet  been  made.  The  whole  of  this  sum  is  hypothe- 
cated for  the  payment  of  a  Turkish  debt ;  and,  of 
course,  the  interests  of  the  Allies'  bondholders  have 
to  be  safeguarded. 

As  heretofore,  the  Egyptians  will  play  a  large 
part  in  their  own  government,  and  England  will 
exert  only  a  guiding  pressure  upon  the  adminis- 
tration. A  small  Army  of  Occupation  will  remain 
in  the  country  after  the  establishment  of  peace,  to 
serve  as  a  kind  of  police  force  for  the  maintenance 
of  order ;  but  it  is  still .  a  question  whether  the 
native  army  will  be  increased  beyond  the  18,000 
men  which  was  the  maximum  authorised  by  the 
Turco  -  Egyptian  Treaties.  The  British  Consul- 
General  is  replaced  by  a  High  Commissioner,  and 
to  this  office  Sir  Arthur  M'Mahon,  late  Foreign 
Secretary  to  the  Government  of  India,  has  been 
appointed,  but  the  actual  activities  of  the  earlier 
office  will  not  be  greatly  altered. 

For  the  moment  the  contemplated  invasion  of 
Egypt  by  a  Turkish  army  occupies  public  atten- 
tion ;    for,    in    spite    of   the    great    difficulties    of 

u 


3o6     Egypt  during  the  British  Occupation 

crossing  the  desert,  the  scheme  has  not  yet  been 
abandoned.  Djemal  Pasha,  the  Turkish  com- 
mander, is  said  to  have  been  superseded  by 
General  von  Falkenberg,  an  able  German  officer, 
who  believes  the  task  of  successfully  attacking 
the  Suez  Canal  to  be  practicable.  This  officer 
has  been  instructed  to  effect  the  arrest  of  the 
new  Sultan  of  Egypt,  and  to  try  him  by  court- 
martial  for  his  insubordination  to  the  Turkish 
Sultan.  The  very  large  British  Imperial  forces 
now  assembled  in  Egypt,  however,  are  confident 
of  their  ability  to  defeat  these  designs,  and  little 
fear  is  felt  of  a  native  rising  in  favour  of  the 
Porte.  It  is  to  be  hoped,  as  has  been  said  above, 
that  in  future  years  Egypt  will  be  able  to  re- 
establish its  protective  influence  over  the  Hedjaz, 
where  the  sacred  cities  of  Mecca  and  Medina  are 
situated ;  and  Mr  Asquith  has  recently  reminded 
the  world  that  it  is  England's  determination  "to 
defend  against  all  invaders,  and  to  maintain  invio- 
late, the  Holy  Places  of  Islam." 

The  relationship  of  Egypt  to  Syria  is  as  yet 
undecided ;  but  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  in 
the  past  the  latter  country  has  usually  been  a 
dependence  of  the  Egyptian  dominions.  If,  as  is 
expected,  the  Turkish  overtbr-ow  is  complete,  Syria 
will  certainly  come  under  the  protection  of  either 
England  or  France.  Meanwhile  German  East 
Africa,  which  adjoins  the  Sudan,  will  probably 
pass  into  our  hands ;  and  thus  the  valley  of  the 


The  Protectorate  307 

Nile  will  be  surrounded  by  friendly  territory,  and 
will  become,  as  the  dynasty  of  Mohammed  AH  has 
always  wished,  the  centre  of  Near  South-Eastern 
civilisation. 

Thus  we  have  brought  to  a  close  the  first  period 
of  our  great  work  in  the  ancient  land  of  the 
Pharaohs,  and  have  opened  in  all  happiness  and 
with  all  good  auguries  the  clean  page  upon  which 
we  are  about  to  write  the  mighty  story  of  the 
new  Egypt. 


I 


INDEX. 


Abbas  Hilmi,  Khedive  of  Egypt, 
195,  199,  201  ;  sides  with  Tur- 
key, 280  ;  his  hostility  to  the 
British,  280  ;  deposed,  299 
Abbas,  son  of  Mohammed  Ali,  84 
Aboukir  Bay,  battle  of,  28 
Acre,  siege  and  defence  of,  36 
Ahmed,  heir-apparent  to  Said 
Pasha,  Viceroy  of  Egypt,  84  ; 
suspicious  death  of,  85 
Alexandria,  battle  of,  42 ;  massacre 
of  Europeans  at,  142  ;  bombard- 
ment of,  148;  riot  at,  248 
Ali  Bey,  revolt  of,  3 
Ali,  Mohammed,  founder  of  the 
Khedivial  Dynasty  of  Egypt,  44 ; 
birth,  45  ;  illiteracy,  46  ;  friend- 
ship with  Frenchman  named 
Leon,  46 ;  early  exploits,  47  ; 
personal  appearance,  48  ;  lieu- 
tenant in  Turkish  army  sent  to 
Egypt,  49 ;  saved  from  drowning 
by  the  British,  49  ;  in  command 
of  the  Albanian  cavalry,  51  ;  in 
chief  command,  54 ;  attacks  Tur- 
kish army,  54  ;  rupture  with  the 
Mamelukes,  55 ;  Governor  of 
Cairo,  56  ;  ambushes  the  Mame- 
lukes, 56  ;  friendship  with  the 
French,  57  ;  defeats  the  British, 
57 ;  organises  his  forces  with 
French  assistance,  58  ;  massacre 
of  the  Mamelukes,  58  ;  rules 
Egypt  with  a  firm  hand,  61  ; 
invades  Syria,  66  ;  appointed 
Governor  of  Syria,  Aleppo,  and 
Damascus,    68 ;    revolt    of    the 


Syrians,  68 ;  declares  himself 
independent  of  the  Porte,  68  ; 
patronised  by  English  politi- 
cians, 69  ;  industrial  experi- 
ments, 72  ;  coerced  by  the 
Powers,  75  ;  second  Syrian  re- 
volt, 76 ;  hereditary  Pasha  of 
Egypt  and  Governor  of  the  Su- 
dan, 77  ;  illness  and  death,  77 

Anglo-French  fleet  sails  for  Alex- 
andria, 130 

Arabi  Pasha,  121  ;  antecedents  of, 
122;  as  a  soldier,  123;  cashiered 
for  corruption,  124;  readmitted 
into  the  army,  125  ;  promoted, 
126  ;  leader  of  discontented 
officers,  127 ;  court-martialed 
and  rescued,  128;  demonstrates 
against  Ministry  of  War,  129  ; 
heads  mutiny  of  troops,  131 ;  re- 
tires to  Suez,  135  ;  recalled  and 
made  Under-Secretary  for  War, 
136  ;  Minister  of  War,  137  ;  re- 
signs and  reinstated,  139  ;  atti- 
tude towards  riot  at  Alexandria, 
142 ;  decorated  by  the  Sultan, 
145;  prepares  for  war,  146;  defies 
the  European  Powers  and  the 
Porte,  147;  at  bombardment  of 
Alexandria,  148  ;  retreats,  151  ; 
declared  a  rebel  and  traitor,  154 ; 
defeated  at  Tel-el-Kebir,  159 ; 
surrenders  at  Cairo,  162  ;  tried 
and  sentenced,  163;  exile  in  Cey- 
lon and  return  to  Egypt,  164 

Asquith,  Mr  :  his  Guildhall  speech, 
282 


3IO 


Index 


Baker,  Sir  Samuel,  93,  171 
Bonaparte,  Napoleon :  dreams  of 
Eastern  conquest,  4  ;  objects  in 
the  expedition  to  Egypt,  9  ;  sails 
for  Egypt,  13;  proclamation  to 
troops,  15  ;  lands  in  Egypt,  18  ; 
grazed  by  a  bullet,  18  ;  procla- 
mation to  the  people  of  Egypt, 
19;  escapes  capture,  22 ;  address 
to  troops  at  the  battle  of  the 
Pyramids,  25 ;  in  Cairo,  28  ; 
embraces  Mohammedanism,  31  ; 
reorganises  the  Governjnent  at 
Cairo,  33  ;  address  to  the  people 
of  Cairo,  33 ;  expedition  into 
Syria,  36  ;  at  the  siege  of  Acre, 
38 ;  retreat  to  Egypt,  39  ;  dis- 
cusses the  poisoning  of  his 
wounded,  40  ;  defeats  the  Tiirks 
at  Aboukir,  40 ;  deserts  his 
army  and  sails  for  France,  41 ; 
lands  in  France,  41 
Boutros  Pasha  Ghali,  214,  215 
British  force  landed  in  Egypt  1807, 
and  its  defeat  by  Mohammed 
Ali  and  the  French,  57 

Cairo :  occupied  by  the  French,  27  ; 
Bonaparte  in,  33  ;  revolt  of  the 
townspeople,  33 

Caliphate,  the,  297 

Capitulations,  the,  to  be  abolished, 
304 

Cecil,  Lord  Edward,  265,  304 

Cheetham,  Sir  Milne,  266,  303 

Chitty,  Sir  Arthur,  232 

Colvin,  Sir  Auckland,  British 
Controller-General  of  the  Egyp- 
tian Debt,  132,  134,  136,  148 

Connaught,  Duke  of,  155,  163 

Constantinople,  the  Powers  and,  74 

Cookson,  Sir  Charles,  Acting 
British  Consul-General,  134 

Copts,  the,  215 

Corbet,  Sir  Vincent,  Financial 
Adviser  to  Egyptian  Govern- 
ment, 208 

Cromer,    Lord :     his     opinion     of 

^Arabi,  146;  appointed  British 
Agent  and  Consul-General,  171; 


his  comments  on  Lord  Granville, 
173 ;  advises  Government  to 
abandon  the  Sudan,  174;  his 
reorganisation  of  the  Egyptian 
Government,  175;  friction  with 
France,  176  ;  relations  with  the 
Khedive  Tewfik,  177  ;  his 
anomalous  position  as  British 
Agent,  178  ;  again  advises  the 
evacuation  of  the  Sudan,  183  ; 
opposed  to  appointment  of  Gen- 
eral Gordon,  184;  his  opinion 
of  General  Gordon,  188;  on  the 
reconquest  of  the  Sudan,  197  ; 
his  work  for  Egypt,  198;  his 
firm  dealing  with  the  Khedive 
Abbas  Hilmi,  200  ;  resignation, 
204 

Daoud  Pasha,  Minister  of  War  in 
Egypt,  130 

Dardanelles,  the,  74 

Darfur,  Sultan  of,  108 

Deneshwai,  tragedy  of,  203 

Dervish  Pasha,  Turkish  Com- 
missioner in  Egypt,  140,  146 

Djemal  Pasha,  306 

Dufferin,  Lord,  168 

Egypt :  conquered  by  Turks,  3  ; 
natural  gateway  to  the  East, 
9  ;  description  of,  12  ;  in  state 
of  war  with  Germany  and 
Austria,  273;    Sultan  of,  299 

El  Rahmanieh,  battle  of,  23 

Falkenberg,  General  von,  306 
Farman,  Mr,  American  judge,  142 
France  and  the  English  policy  in 
Egypt,  177 

Garstin,  Sir  William,  199,  208 
George    V. ,    King :     his    passage 

through  the  Suez  Canal,  250 
German  intrigues  in  Egypt,  275 
Gordon,  General,  112,  184,  186 
Gorst,  Sir  Eldon  :  British  Agent  in 

Egypt,  206  ;  indifferent  to  pomp, 

210;  his  diplomatic  ability,  212; 

appointment  at  Foreign  Office, 


Index 


3^1 


212 ;  institutes  more  friendly 
relations  with  Khedive,  212 ; 
overthrows  militant  nationalism 
in  Egypt,  213  ;  his  policy,  217  ; 
gives  greater  powers  to  General 
Assembly  and  Legislative  Coun- 
cil, 229  ;  introduces  Exile  Laws 
and  Press  Law,  230  ;  disliked  by 
English  officials  in  Egypt,  231  ; 
his  great  aim,  233  ;  his  last 
annual  report,  235  ;  illness  and 
death,  235 

Graham,  Sir  Ronald,  232,  265, 
303 

Granville,  Dr  Alexander,  266 

Granville,  Lord,  172 

Harvey  Pasha,  266 

Harvey,  Sir  Paul,  233,  260,  265 

Hicks,  General,  his  expedition  into 

Kordofan,  172,  173 
Holy  Places  of  Islam,  306 
Hussein  Kamel  Pasha,  proclaimed 
Sultan  of  Egypt,  299  ;  his  per- 
sonality, 302 
Hussein  Rushdy  Pasha,  303 

Ibrahim  Bey,  Mameluke  chief,  4, 
7;  humanity  of,  17;  defeated 
by  Napoleon,  30 

Ibrahim,  son  of  Mohammed  Ali, 
65,  66,  67,  70,  73,  76,  77 

Ismail  Pasha :  the  prodigal  Khedive 
of  Egypt,  79  ;  personal  appear- 
ance of,  81  ;  personality  of, 
82  ;  succeeds  Said  Pasha,  84  ; 
borrowings,  86,  90,  94,  105, 
108  ;  visits  Constantinople,  86  ; 
ambitions  of,  88  ;  revisits  Con- 
stantinople, 89  ;  tribute  to  the 
Porte  increased,  89  ;  establishes 
a  Grand  Council  at  Cairo,  89  ; 
granted  hereditary  appellation 
of  Khedive,  90  ;  visits  Europe, 
91  ;  modernises  Egypt,  92 ; 
private  income,  94  ;  extrava- 
gances, 95  ;  his  hospitality,  96 ; 
entertains  Prince  and  Princess 
of  Wales  in  Egypt,  96  ;  plots 
against,    97  ;    second    visit    to 


Europe,  100 ;  purchases  iron- 
clads, 102;  issues  invitations  to 
the  opening  of  the  Suez  Canal, 
102;  offends  the  Sultan,  102; 
opening  of  the  Suez  Canal,  103  ; 
receives  ultimatum  from  the 
Sultan,  104  ;  apologises  to  the 
Sultan,  105  ;  visits  the  Sultan, 
106  ;  in  financial  straits,  107  ; 
defeats  the  Sultan  of  Darfur, 
108 ;  sells  Suez  Canal  shares 
to  England,  109  ;  murders  his 
Minister  of  Finance,  111  ;  in  tlie 
hands  of  the  bondholders,  112  ; 
deposed,  117;  death,  120;  inter- 
view with  Arabi  and  discontented 
officers,  126 
Italy's  seizure  of  Tripoli,  and  its 
bearing  on  Egypt,  239 

Jaffa  taken  by  assault,  36 

Khalifa,  the,  193 

Khedives  of  Egypt :  Ismail  Pasha, 
91  ;  Tewfik  Pasha,  117;  Abbas 
Hilmi,   195 

Kitchener,  Lord,  195,  196 ;  ap- 
pointed British  Agent  in  Egypt, 
238  ;  his  tact,  248  ;  why  he  was 
sent  to  Egypt,  255  ;  his  task  in 
Egypt,  257  ;  institutes  changes 
in  the  Government  administra- 
tion, 258  ;  actual  ruler  of  Egypt, 
263  ;  institutes  reforms,  265  ; 
leaves  Egypt,  266  ;  his  influence 
with  the  natives  in  Egypt,  295 

Kleber,  General,  wounded  at  Alex- 
andria, 18;  at  siege  of  Acre, 
38  ;  left  in  command  in  Egypt, 
41  ;  assassinated,  41 

Leon,  Monsieur,  friend  of  Moham- 
med Ali,  46,  57 
Lesscps,  M.  de,  112,  156,  158 

Mahdi,  the,  193 

Malet,  Sir  Edward,  British  Agent 

in  Cairo,  168 
Malta,  capitulation  of,  13 
Mamelukes,  the,  26,  27  ;  defeated 


312 


Index 


at  Salhiel,  30 ;  history  of,  52 
attacked    by    the    Turks,    53 
ambushed  by  Mohammed  Ali,  56 
massacre  of  the  Mamelukes,  58 
Marchant,  Major,  196 
Matchell,  Major,  208 
Maxwell,    Sir  John,  Commander- 
in-Chief  of  the  British  forces  in 
Egypt,  288 
Menou,  General,  31,  50 
Murad  Bey,  Mameluke  chief,  4,  7  ; 
at  the  battle  of  the  Pyramids,  26 
Mustapha  Kamel  Pasha,  213 
Mustapha  Pasha  Fehmy,  209 
Macauley,  Sir  George,  304 
Macdonald,  Sir  Murdoch,  265,  304 
M'Mahon,  Sir  Arthur,  High  Com- 
missioner in  Egypt,  305 

Nationalist  Party  in  Egypt,  202, 

208 
Navarino,  battle  of,  65 
Nelson's   chase   after  the    French 

Fleet,  14 
Neutrality,  Egyptian,  278 
Nubar  Pasha,  114 

Palmer,  Sir  Elwin,  209 
Porte  and  Egypt,  193 
Porte  and  the  Sudan,  197 
Protectorate  :  Egypt  proclaimed  a 

British,  299 
Pyramids,  battle  of  the,  26 

Rifki,   Osman,   Minister   of   War, 

127,  129 
Roosevelt,  Colonel,  206 
Royle,  Charles,  English  judge,  143 

Sadyk,  Ismail,  Minister  of  Finance 
to  Ismail  Pasha,  107,  109,  110 

Said  Pasha,  Viceroy  of  Egypt,  84 

Selim  I. ,  Sultan  of  Turkey,  declared 
Sultan  of  Egypt,  3 

Seymour,  Admiral,  commanding 
British  Fleet,  147,  152 


Sherif  Pasha,  135,  183 

Smith,  Sir  Sidney,  36,  40 

Storrs,  Mr  Roland,  234,  266,  304 

Sudan,  the,  174,  183 ;  recon- 
quered, 193,  196 

Suez  Canal,  guests  at  opening  of, 
102;  opening  of,  103 

Sultan  of  Egypt,  299 

Syria  :  Bonaparte's  expedition 
into,  36  ;  revolts  against 
Mohammed  Ali,  68,  76  ;  future 
of,  306 

Tel-el-Kebir,  battle  of,  159 

Tewfik  Pasha :  succeeds  as 
Khedive,  117;  browbeaten  by 
discontented  officers,  129;  inter- 
view with  disaffected  army,  132; 
quarrel  with  Arabi  and  the 
army,  137  ;  at  Ramleh  during 
the  bombardment  of  Alexandria, 
149  ;  made  prisoner  by  Arabi, 
151;  places  himself  under  British 
protection,  152  ;  makes  state 
entry  into  Cairo,  163  ;  com- 
mutes Arabi's  death  sentence, 
163,  177 

Tripoli,  the  seizure  of,  by  Italy, 
239 

Turco-Egyptian  Treaty,  77,  270, 
274 

Turks  :  conquer  Egypt,  3  ;  de- 
feated by  Bonaparte  at  Aboukir, 
40  ;  defeated  by  the  Egyptians 
at  Konia,  67  ;  defeated  at 
Nezib,  73  ;  rights  of,  in  Egypt, 
243 ;  war  declared  between  Eng- 
land and  the,  278  ;  their  plan 
of  campaign  against  Egypt,  284 

Watson,  Sir  Charles,  161 
Wingate,  Sir  Reginald,  196 
Wolff,  Sir  Henry,  193 
Wolseley,  Sir  Garnet,  commanding 

British    troops    in    Egypt,    155, 

156,  159,  163 


PRINTED  BT  WILLIAM   BLACKWOOD  AXD  SONS. 


liMZ 


I 


962 
Wei  gall 

A  history 
from  1798  to 


of  events 
1914 


2137 


in  Egypt 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


AA    000  858  250    4 


